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Would love to chat with anyone re any side effects they've experienced after radiation.  I'm still feeling aches/twinges in that breast (which I am sure are normal) after finishing my radiation mid July. I was diagnosed in March, had surgery & 6 weeks radiation.

Hi Tanya,

Thankyou for your prompt response. From our understanding of the results, it shows a grade 2 invasive lobular carcinoma and by what we can gather it is of a decent size (unfortunatly). We are attending a clinic at Moorabbin on Tues to meet with the surgeons chemo therapists etc to gather more info and to decide the best method to get through this. Anna would rather have the surgery first followed by the chemo and I will  support her as best I can.

Anna has been booked in for surgery on 4th Nov to have her right breat removed also lymph nodes will be removed from the right side, its rather difficult to get ones head around all that has gone down over the past 2 weeks and to understand all the information. Not easy. Once again thanks for resonding and we do send all our best and hope all goes well for yourself and your family.

Regards  Haz

Just saw this post and I hope you now have some answers.

I do not have much info on Metaplastic carcinoma.  Is it mataplastic of the breast?  I had a friend that had metaplastic thyroid cancer.

I hope you are travelling well and have the answers regarding this kind of cancer.

xx

Tanya

Sorry that your wife has been diagnosed.  You are probably still at the stage that everything is happening so fast, the surgeons seem like they are speaking a foreign language and you are both still in a little bit of shock??

Regarding your question, it is something that you will need to be guided by what Anna feels is right for her and also what info your surgeon has given you and why.

I had surgery first and then chemo.  I think a lot of times they do not know all the results until the tumour is removed.  Sometimes they need to check if it has spread to your lymph nodes etc during surgery. 

I also talk on one of the US forums and they seem to do chemo first to shrink the tumour then surgery.  I think this way not as much as the breast needs to be taken.  Breast conservation, however they seem to do it the other way round here (generally speaking).

Perhaps you should ask your surgeon why they would want to do chemo first?  Is it a large tumour?

At the end of the day the Decision is Anna's, but by coming here and asking questions and making an informed decision that give you the best outcome for a long and happy life together.

Regards

Tanya

it was nice to hear from you, my reaction to the chemo was really bad nausea than a tight feeling accross my chest like i couldnt breath than my lips went numb and my face and chest went very red, very scarey but i got through it....

i spoke to my oncologist nurse his morning and yes they are going to try it again next week, they said it more than likley it wont happen again but even so its very daunting.

thank you for your reply

kind regards Tracey

Hi Tracey

I had an allergic reaction to one of the chemo drugs too, but mine felt like a really heavy cold that came on really suddenly with tightening in the chest!!

Mine was stopped for one only then they used to put it through really really slow.  It used to take 6 hours for mine to go through.  There are so many options now days that your on oncologist will have plenty of alternatives.

Good luck, sorry I couldn't be of more help

Tanya

Hi everyone, i have been digonsosed with early BC in march 1020, i have been going through chemo every three weeks for the past three months, well all went great apart from the sickness that lasted for a good week.

well today the 6th of October i started a new chemo called paclitaxel, i thought i was going to be ok untill i had an allergic reaction, very scary but im ok, has anyone else had an reaction on this drug? They stopped the taxel and waited for half an hour than started to give it to me again, it started to make me feel sick again and they stopped it before it really got hold of me, so i didnt really have my treatment today. so im not sure if they are going to try it again next week but im very scared.

please help kind regards Tracey

Hi Suzf, throughout radiotherapy I also had real hassles trying to find some sort of comfortable bra to wear. In the end, I lived in Bonds Crop tops that I got from the underwear department at Big W! The great thing about them is that they have no side seams therefore they don't irritate under the arm, and they don't have a thick, stiff row of elastic inserted under the boobs either which makes them really comfy! (the material is elasticised which gives the support). From what I remember they were cheap too which is always a bonus (under $20). They are cotton and elastine which is great for the warm weather, and they come in white and black. I bought mine a size or two bigger than I'd normally wear to accomodate swelling etc and that worked really well for me. I found them great to wear for just lazing around, going shopping, to and from the hospital etc....I dont know if I'd wear them jogging or doing aerobics though....I don't think they'd be supportive enough (for me anyway!) Next time you are near Big W perhaps have a peek and see if you can spot them...they were the best thing I bought...so much so that I even slept in them!

Goodluck, Celeste x

Hi Tanya, thanks for your response. Yes I knew that some sort of test existed and had tried on more than one occasion to investigate it with my medical team but had no luck. You reminding me of the test made me take up the task of digging further and I eventually found out that the name of the test is Tamoxifen PredictAR! From what I can see, it hasn't been available in Australia for very long and is not on the PBS list like you said. I went to see my GP today and he was very supportive of me getting the test done which was wonderful news! I am going to find out a bit more about it first, including the cost, via a customer helpline that the testing company has.

So thanks once again Tanya for giving me the encouragement to continue pursuing this. It just goes to show that at times we need to be very assertive, determined and persistent when it comes to our health....and like the old saying goes "there's more than one way to skin a cat!"

Celeste xx

10th treatment today (15 to go!) and have been experimenting with various creams - I normally use sorbelyn due to all my allergies but I am now using Flamigel with fairly good results, the solugel I was given by the breast nurse didn't help. 

Also finding I am having a lot of muscle pain spreading around behind my shoulder - physio and intern think it is fluid build up from the radiation.  Did anyone have pain and swelling underarm and upper arm without lymph node surgery? 

 Still struggling to find a bra that doesn't cause pressure points and pain through the day, can't go without at work, the closest one was an exchange from the one sent to me - the new ordering procedure doesn't work well, not using size but measurements and they vary during the day and between non therapy days and treatment days.

Thank you all for your support - good to be able to talk about the mundane things, Suzf.