Annette77
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Re: Didn’t lose hair?
Hi @Natuls, Be prepared to not have the option of the cold cap, depending on your hospital. My cancer centre isn't offering the cold cap because of the extra time it takes. Due to COVID, they want to get people in and out for their chemo as quickly as possible. I had my last chemo session last week and have 10% of the hair left on my head. It started falling out 14 days after the first chemo session and was mostly gone by the end of the following week. Good luck with your treatment.9Views1like0CommentsRe: 12 days since lumpectomy and still no results
Dear @Abbydog, Thanks, this is very helpful. I was planning to need the rest of this year for treatment or to recover from treatment. Luckily I’ve been in the public service for many years and haven’t been sick much and have 8 months of accumulated sick leave. I’m planning to work part-time and use my sick leave for the rest of the time to cover the year. I can work from home and my manager has agreed to me doing that as long as I need to. I don’t know if I have income protection insurance and will check. I probably have to use all my sick leave first but it would be a good back-up. I have read about cold caps but I didn’t know if they are used in Australia. I’ve added a question on cold caps to my list. I check my breasts regularly and didn’t find the lump. It was found in a routine mammogram. I’ve been upset with myself for not finding it but it might have been too small for me to realise it was a lump when I checked a couple of months before the mammogram. I have dense breasts so parts of my breasts feel firm normally. I’ll probably have more questions after my specialist appointments. All the information I’ve gotten on this forum and the website has really helped.0Views1like0CommentsRe: 12 days since lumpectomy and still no results
Thanks for sharing your story, Cath. It makes me feel much more hopeful. I was expecting a much more gruelling treatment program because of the higher grade. How large was your tumour? Pre-surgery, mine was estimated to be 3cm, made up of a 2.14cm lump and a long ‘spike’ invading the tissue next to the lump. Did you lose your hair from the chemo? Were you able to keep working through treatment or were you too tired? I can’t wait to start exercising properly again. I increased my exercise after diagnosis to improve my fitness for surgery and I really miss being able to do the online yoga and HIIT classes because I can’t do weight bearing or vigorous exercise yet. I started a healthy diet 2 months before diagnosis and was feeling positive results in more energy, no more sugar cravings and weight loss, and I’ve kept that up, despite finding cooking quite tiring since the surgery.1View0likes0CommentsRe: 12 days since lumpectomy and still no results
Thanks, everyone. I’ve been telling everyone who will listen at the hospital how anxious I’ve been feeling and how much I would really appreciate getting results when they are available. It worked! I got a call late yesterday from the surgeon’s fellow, who had finished his placement but called because he said he knew I’d be anxious waiting. He was very kind to do that. There was good news - they got all the tumour out (clear margins) and the lymph nodes were negative. But there was bad news - it’s a more aggressive faster growing cancer (grade 3). That was a shock I wasn’t expecting. I’ve been doing a lot of crying. My prognosis is significantly worse and I’ll have a more aggressive treatment program. But at least I’m getting my crying out of the way and dealing with the shock before my appointment next week so I’ll be able to listen to what the surgeon says and prepare some questions to ask. I’m taking my 30yo daughter with me to the appointment and I’ll ask if I can record it on my phone. I think I’ll be referred to a medical oncologist to discuss chemotherapy and the results of genomic testing of whether chemo will help. I think they might also be doing genetic testing to find out why my cancer is aggressive, despite being ER+, PR+ and HER2-, but that will take months to get results. Good luck,@Fernweh. I agree it’s important to be assertive. A few tears might help too. And thanks when someone takes the time to give you information. I’m planning to tell the surgeon, who I’ve only met for 3 minutes, that I do better with time to think about things and more rather than less information. It must make it easier for the surgeons and other doctors to have patients who aren’t highly anxious and stressed and not taking in what they’re told. Thanks for the link to questions, @arpie.1View1like0CommentsRe: 12 days since lumpectomy and still no results
Thanks, I’ve been doing a lot of research and reading websites from US hospitals, the Cancer Council website, and this website. Steering clear of anything that isn’t offical. But I don’t know what applies to me because the only results I have from before the surgery were borderline. Even just knowing if it’s spread or not would help me prepare myself mentally. At my first appointment I felt I couldn’t take in what the surgeon was telling me because it wasn’t explained and it contradicted what her follow had just told me. I’d have a stiff drink except that I’m avoiding alcohol.2Views0likes0CommentsRe: 12 days since lumpectomy and still no results
Thanks, @Julez1958. Were you given time to absorb the information? I feel like I’m being overloaded with everything at once and I’m not part of the decision making at all. I’ve never been given options or told what to expect or even what side effects I could have. I don’t know why they won’t tell me the results before the team discusses them.2Views0likes0Comments12 days since lumpectomy and still no results
I had a wide local excision and lymph node removal 12 days ago and still have not been given any results. I was told the multi-disciplinary team was meeting today on my case and the results would definitely be ready for them today. I have an appointment on 2 February where i expect to be given a flood of information and a treatment plan and no chance to even think about what they are telling me or think of questions I want to ask. I know they are stretched due to COVID but I feel sick with anxiety. Have other people experienced similar delays in getting results? Does anyone have any tips for how to improve communication with their specialist? I’ve asked the breast care nurse but she’s reluctant to tell anything she thinks the doctor should tell me and my GP isn’t being told anything either. I’m doing meditation and deep breathing but it’s getting harder the longer I have to wait.192Views0likes17CommentsRe: Post surgery - bra rubbing on wound from lymph node removal
Thanks for your tips. I’ll see if I can buy some soft singlets. I’ve stopped wearing a sock in my bra. It kept moving and the wound has become less sensitive so it’s not rubbing so much now. But it sounds like I’ll still need something for when I go through radiation. Still don’t have the pathology results from my surgery a week ago. COVID has delayed everything here in Melbourne. I was so lucky to have the surgery last week before the cancellations. I feel so sorry for the people who have to wait.82Views0likes0CommentsRe: Post surgery - bra rubbing on wound from lymph node removal
I’m wearing my usual bra - Berlei, soft, no underwiring, very supportive - and it’s good except where it touches the wound, which is about 5-6cm long. I’m sensitive to the glue used on Tegaderm so I just have skin glue covering both incisions. The wound under the arm is heavily bruised and the bruising is starting to come up on my breast. I haven’t been told if I need to have sutures and the skin glue removed. I know the internal sutures will dissolve. I took endone on the day of surgery, then panadeine on day 2, and now just Panadol. I want to avoid getting constipation. But I’ll take the strong stuff if I need it.70Views0likes0CommentsRe: Newly diagnosed - await treatment plan
Thanks! I think COVID has slowed pathology down a lot. The doctor said he might call me at the end of next week or the week after if there are some results by then. I’m planning to walk in the gardens today, which is one of my favourite things to do. My apartment doesn’t have a balcony and I’m craving fresh air.20Views2likes0Comments
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