how to move on

Hi I don’t post often but I do come on when I need some info but I can’t find what I am looking for at the moment

I had lumpectomy in may followed by radition July/August
1- Just how long after radiation should it stop hurting?
i can’t find a comfy bra? Wires sit right on the edge of the lumpectomy scar and where I had minor peeling , so I am trying soft wire free but I still get pain from under where I had the worst radiation burn (not bad but enough to peel) and they don’t sit as nice as underwire ones and sports bras tend to look like One big mess or they have underwire. So every single day I think I am going to burn this bra when I get home and I can’t remember but did bras also feel funny?

2- can a blood test show cancer?

3- is there a test that show if tamoxifen is working? Like I get some hot flushes and my finger joints are a bit achy, I have put on a few kilos but I got lazy this year.

4- Am I cancer free now or is that after five years?
Why do some people get the genetic testing but not everyone? (Family history is just 1 aunt and 1 Cousin)
i have my first scan coming up in jan and don’t want to send the next month stressing over that but how do people not ? I just feel a bit on edge when I think about it and I know that’s not good so I try to not stress but I went to gp for script repeat and said should I have a blood test or something now ? So he wrote one for a bit of check of everything he said I don’t want to give you bad news again I laughed and said good I don’t want to get bad news again those first few weeks back in may I clocked up a lot of visits with him. He’s great but before all this I hardly ever went to the dr

In between all that and against breast care nurse advise I quit my job that I had for 14 years the week before radiation started and started a new one the week after radiation finished. So three months in trying to find my feet and where I fit in the new role. Head down bum up and all that. Everyone’s nice but I don’t love the role I don’t hate it either. Am I ever going to love something again? I don’t want the stress of a higher paid role, and I can car pool with husband most days so the lower pay is actually fairly well evened from that, we close for two weeks next Friday so I get a few weeks break which I think I really need. My direct boss is lovely but I feel a bit of tension from the girl that was doing the role. Like I am not as good as her in her view , I don’t feel like I need to be of course I do things different so could just be paroniid about that but she’s got this hair flicking thing that makes me cringe

DearB
Member
8 years ago
Thanks so much lovely ladies. This week has much better! Got some comfier bras , work was great, now on two weeks leave doing as much or as little as I like. What a difference a week has made.
Romla
Member
8 years ago
http://www.thebreastcaresite.com/after-surgery/recognizing-possible-long-term-side-effects-radiation-therapy/
Romla
Member
8 years ago
Hi @DearB I had a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy March followed by radiotherapy in May.I too had longer term side effects side effect - chest pains August , shooting pain down arm treatment side assessed by GP as cellulitis and had an inverted nipple in October for which I had a mammogram , needle biopsy and ultrasound - all clear. My oncologist when I visited him in November said was side effects of radiation and they can last a long term up to 12months.I also periodically have a red hot breast .I finally found just recently a comfortable bra as even the post op bra from Target wa s uncomfortable on my scar - it’s called an “ah bra” - there are variants of it sold KMart , Big w , Best and Less etc- not a pretty/ sexy looking item but so comfortable.. I bought 3 on eBay for $15.Also you step into them most odd and I did worry it would go over my bottom but very easy.
DearB
Member
8 years ago
Thanks so much everyone!!! I really appreciate your insights. It’s hard to talk to family as I don’t want to stress them and I am blessed to have support around me but I try not to talk about it other then say yeah I am good !!!
melclarity
Member
8 years ago
@DearB

I always look at when my tumor was taken, all scans clear from head to toe, I was clear. There are no blood tests to detect unfortunately. There's no way of them knowing if tamoxifen is working either. I had a friend who showed her Oestrogen levels were high and she panicked thinking it wasn't working. Quite the opposite! Tamoxifen is an Oestrogen blocker, so if it is detected as higher levels it IS doing its job :)

They use 5yrs as a bench mark to get over first, I made it to 4yrs and had a recurrence after I'd had radiation and tamoxifen. Nothing is foolproof. I'm now 2.5yrs post treatment from 2nd diagnosis and in 6 months I will be finally put on 1yr checkups. I don't focus on 5yrs or any year, its been a long hard road to recover and I'm finally in a great place and moving forward in so many ways.

There is light in time, but its taken this long for me, I don't think about it anymore, I think after what Ive been through, I just focus on 1yr at a time. I don't obsess but yes scanxiety is difficult and real! I have mine in January and honestly dont want mammos anymore. I now only have to have my right side but still over it all, and dont like the idea anymore of yearly mammos as dont think they're good at all.

Re: work, I've worked 3 days and 2 days on income protection for the past 2yrs, best decision ever. I work in an Autism Specific School so demanding all round.

Will you love something again? from my perspective absolutely!!! I'm moving in January to the other side of the city and I also have acquired a new job in a different school. New beginnings and am bursting, I've worked hard with an exercise physiologist for 13 months and am so strong now.

Its hard to believe because I know when I was in the depths of hell, I didn't care to survive treatment, the truth! to think I could be where i am now?? I couldn't have foreseen. So stay focused 1 step at a time...breathe and you'll be fine.

x
Melinda
melclarity
Member
8 years ago
@DearB nice to hear from you, and yes so many questions, it can be daunting and unrelenting.

Firstly, here's some at kmart that are sooo comfy for home that I wore 24/7 especially post surgery.

2 Pack Wirefree Seamfree Padded Crop Bras
$15.00
Mollygirl
Member
8 years ago
You know @DearB, it's ok not to be okay too. I'm trying to learn to accept I'm allowed to be bloody petrified, anxious, mad, nervous angry etc. I try not to 'dam' it up cos if that dam goes, shessh I might go under! I'm learning to let the feelings come to me, and just wish wash around me for a bit if that makes sense??? It's like I'm dealing with bits at a time then I don't feel so overwhelmed. I'm new at this cos I'm a nervous Nelly at the best of times and scary if everything even before I got BC
DearB
Member
8 years ago
@mollygirl. I don’t know if I could as at my time of radiation I saw the social worker there a few times and I swear her aim was just to make me cry!!! I was in a bad spot at the time as I had just quit work and stressing about getting another job so she didn’t have to push too hard for the tears and then I would have to go sit back in the waiting room for treatment with puffy eyes it was surreal and I was pretty much laying around most days until the time for appointment then coming back home again and laying down again (but not sleeping at night). My mum HAd mental health problems and I was scared That was going to happen to me Like I couldn’t find any happiness again but most days now 99.9 I am fine. Not the same as before but okay I guess I could try it one day It helps to know it’s a real anxiety and sounds pretty normal!!!!
DearB
Member
8 years ago
Thanks heaps for your replies. Very helpful. I went Christmas shopping today and spent so much. Now I am having a lay down but it was a nice day out with my eldest daughter.
kezmusc
Member
8 years ago
Hi @DearB .
I had lumpectomy, chemo, rads. Finish radiation end of July. Only pain I have is where they nuked my chest nodes and that's not very often only when I cough or sneeze mostly. Maybe talk to you radiation oncologist just to check everything. The little crop top Bras from Best and less are pretty good actually. I am back into a normal bra now, but I could even ride my horse in one of those with not too much bounce (ouch!) Some of the bras with lace on make me itch around the scar but I just put a little bit of tissue in if it gets really annoying and some wires sit differently to others, so its a bit of trial and error with that.
12 months since the lumpectomy and no pain really anymore. Tissue is still a bit hard around the scar area and every so often a little puffy under my arm where lymph nodes were removed but everything else is all good. Scan anxiety....oh my lord yes. I've recently done the mamogram, usound and MRI. They took a long time with the ultrasound and I started to freak out. But, all clear thankfully. Things will start getting better soon XOXOX