Recently diagnozed with Breast Cancer

HI Brendas,

          Thanks so very much about the post about port-a cath. I relly apprciate your input about the subject. Thanks

You will be glad of that port a cath. My final chemo they tried in 6 places in my arm, rotating and turning and reinserting various depths and directions. They even tried it with an ultrasound.  A week later I still have dirty bruises up my arm. Its not so much the veins shrink with chemo its that they somehow get slippery to insert a needle into and just keep on moving out of the way. Gets frustrating.

Hi Gurneys,

                   Thanks for your helpful reply. As you said eveyone deals with the diagnozis different. With me,  I told my family and relatives, here, interstate and overseas and very close friends. The thing is that everyone does what is best for them .Thanks for writing  how is it going so far. I was told that it is different with everyone the side effects. From what I read on the posts this is true.  I am getting apprehensive and scared of the side effects plus the unexpected procedure of the port-a-cath I must have before treatment starts. But I guess I can either wallow in self pity or soldier on. I already had days of self pity and crying though. I am sure once treatment starts I have more "feeling pity for me days".Again thanks for the post, taking time to answer me is great. Thanks you. Have a nice Easter.

HI Jane Elizabeth.

                             Apart from the emotional things that I will feel starting from hair loss and seeing the family go through it with me is hard enough but there is also the financial side of things.Also with me an extra but much necessary thing to have, I am due to have the port-a cath inserted under the skin in hospital,due to the fact that my veins are small and they were unable to do the MRI ( it has been postponed but still treatment will start). This is  happening before chemo starts. So this is also something that must be done I am told it is better for me so that the chemo sessions when it comes to having blood taken and  tests needed done like injecting dye as in MRI will be easier. Apart from  from my husband and kids,  relatives overseas and relatives interstate ,now I have new friends in this group. And looking on the bright side as you said I will save on shampoo for a while. Thanks for answering and have a nice Easter.

HI Brendas thanks so very much for your reply. As you said it is going to be a long and tough journey which emotionally will exhaust the patient but knowing that this group is there to help and offer suggestions how to deal with my "journey" having passed from the same journey, makes things a little easier to cope, so thanks Brendas for  taking the time to reply. Have a nice Easter.

Hi

I recently started chemo too. Just had my second round.

My personal experience - which of course everyone is different - was it wasn't too bad. First week was the worst - I slept a lot, very lethargic, various side effects but nothing too major. By day 10 I was starting to feel better and almost normal by the third week. 

I have also been using the cooling cap for hair loss. Not sure if I will continue with it though. I don't like it very much and my hair is starting to fall out now anyway - it could be the drug combination I am on.

Everyone deals with each aspect differently. Some people cope really well with the hair loss - going to shave it off before it all begins - others find it a huge emotional loss. Some breeze through chemo with few side effects, others have to deal with a few more. Some people like to keep their journey a private one, others deal better with it by making it public knowledge.

I personally have been through a rollercoaster of emotions. I have two small children so I first thought of how this was going to affect them. And of course how my husband was going to carry the load.

The way I needed to deal with it was to make it public knowledge. The thought of going through this huge, life changing event in my life secretly was too much for me to bear. I needed people to know - I needed help and support. Plus I wanted to avoid awkward situations where you run into people and of course they ask how everyone is. I couldn't lie - life was pretty sh***y to be honest. So I made a public announcement on social media, got it out of the way, everyone knows, life goes on. At the same time I also made it be known that we would need help and support so asked people not to feel awkward. Everyone around me has been amazing. I have meals delivered by various friends regularly, mums helping with school pickups, one friend has even paid for a cleaner for me for the time I am going through chemo! And my dear mum has been fabulous.  It has all made a HUGE difference and made the journey just that little bit easier for me.

Of course not everyone feels comfortable with letting everyone know and I totally understand that. It is just what I needed to do.

In terms of work, I have taken time off. I'm lucky I am in a position where I had some leave up my sleeve and I just wanted to focus on healing and getting better. But some people choose to work through it too.

I haven't made many posts yet but feel free to click on them to read my short journey so far. We are all here to support each other in any way we can.

Hi I had my first chemo at the start of March, so am about a month ahead of you, but the thing that I have really noticed since starting my journey is that each journey is different , and each person is different. You will feel and think things that will be different to anyone else, and you will feel and think things that we have all felt. The good thing about this site is that there are always people who "get it", and there are always people who can offer tips and suggestions.

Yes there are tips on here about the "big" things like hair loss, but there are also the little things like money saving tips, or suggestions on what to eat when you don't feel like eating.

Personally I found my first chemo round to be one week of feeling seedy and off and nauseous, especially when the steroids wore off, second week of gradually improving energy and appetite, and the third week of feeling almost normal (I am on 3 weekly ac chemo at the moment). So far it looks like second round will be the same. I lost all my hair starting on day 14, all gone within 5 days. My husband has convinced me I have a nice shaped head!

I hope this helps. You are strong enough, even when you think you are not. You just have to get through it. And you will.

Jane

 Ps and look for the little wins....no more expensive shampoos for a while!

Sorry to hear yet another has joined the bc ranks. If you click on my name and follow my posts, I have blogged my whole chemo journey. I had my last dose last week and I still haven't really had it sink in that its my last.

Its hard to describe, you go and get dosed full of chemo to make you sick for a big picture purpose of stopping cancer from coming back. In the last couple of days to a week at the end of the chemo cycle you are on the mend and feeling better and then you have to front up and have it done all over again. It does mess with your emotions but you do get through it.

Yep we also get some sort of chemo brain for a bit and talk rot sometimes but no one on this forum will criticize as we all go through it and you can rant and rage all you want and we will still support you. We're here for you any time even for the deeply personal things you don't want to burden your family with. Often a different perspective is just the ticket. XXXX