Struggling
Hi ladies, away with my family spending some quality time but last 24 hours been so emotional and stressed, was diagnosed with TNBC early Dec, having 4 rounds of chemo, 16 rounds of taxol and then sur...
Forum Discussion
Hi @CarrieP
I had bilateral bc, and multifocal in the right breast. For the biopsies, I got 6 needles in rightie and 3 in leftie, 9 altogether. Leftie was fine and no bruising or much pain. Lump was just above the nipple. Rightie, on the other hand, was difficult. Lumps were in upper outer quadrant. The doctor was also struggling quite a bit to get the samples from both lumps and was really pushing. Afterwards, it wouldn’t stop bleeding, so she had to apply a lot of pressure with her hands for about 5-10 minutes before she could continue. She did that to avoid bruising, but I still bruised quite a bit and was very sore on that beast. Took about 2 weeks for bruising to disappear. So what you have explained sounds pretty normal, nothing to worry about. On top of that yours was benign, so very good news. The swelling and bruising will go away, just give it time and be careful with your breast.
I had bilateral bc, and multifocal in the right breast. For the biopsies, I got 6 needles in rightie and 3 in leftie, 9 altogether. Leftie was fine and no bruising or much pain. Lump was just above the nipple. Rightie, on the other hand, was difficult. Lumps were in upper outer quadrant. The doctor was also struggling quite a bit to get the samples from both lumps and was really pushing. Afterwards, it wouldn’t stop bleeding, so she had to apply a lot of pressure with her hands for about 5-10 minutes before she could continue. She did that to avoid bruising, but I still bruised quite a bit and was very sore on that beast. Took about 2 weeks for bruising to disappear. So what you have explained sounds pretty normal, nothing to worry about. On top of that yours was benign, so very good news. The swelling and bruising will go away, just give it time and be careful with your breast.
I didn’t do chemo, but as the other ladies mentioned it takes time for side effects to appear, if they do, and everyone is very different. Be very happy if they don’t appear or appear a bit later. Believe me, with what you’re having injected into you, I’d say the odds are almost impossible that it won’t have an effect.
In terms of the emotional stuff, @Afraser is right. We do need to look after our emotional and psychological health just as much as our physical. In the long run, it can do more damage than the physical if not treated. I also thought I didn’t need a counsellor after my mastectomies as I felt so relieved and happy, and was healing well. But boy did I need it a bit later on. Not just cos of the cancer, which is very difficult to deal with, but with pre-existing trauma that the cancer diagnosis was not helping with at all. It just all accumulated and needed to be dealt with, so I did. Saw a psychologist for 6 months, and now all aspects of me are finally healing as they should be. And I finally feel free and happy with myself. It’s a good feeling.
I hope this helps, and please continue to enjoy your time away 😊.
Mon Xx