Member: Molly001 | BCNA Online Network

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Pallas Trial
Hi. Been a long time since I've been here. I was just wondering if there's any Pallas girls still out there. How are you going? What cycle are you up to? What's your experience like? Would love to compare.
7 years ago Place General
clinical-trial
pallas
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Re: Found new lump in dissected armpit this morning.
@kmakm I would really like to see an exercise physiologist. I have a chronic diseases care plan, so 5 medicare visits to a specialist. I was going to see a physio for my sciatica, but that's settled for now so I mi g t look into it. @Pennikins my heart goes out to you. It's tough. Try not to overthink it, get it checked out & process the result when you get it. Easier said than done, but worry changes nothing. I went fully public & my treatment/team was amazing. Let us know how you go.
8 years ago Place General
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Re: Found new lump in dissected armpit this morning.
Hi wonderfuls, in the end I decided not to freak out about the lumps found and waited til my trials appt with my oncol, which was only a 2 week wait anyhow. She had a poke around and said it felt like muscle but booked me an U/S just to be sure. Had the U/S this morn & confirmed it's muscle. Feels strange because of RT, but nothing sinister there. I was blown away at how much the muscle has changed compared with the healthy side! Glad, now, I didn't run too far ahead with the idea of recurrance but def relieved to have gotten it checked.
8 years ago Place General
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Re: Found new lump in dissected armpit this morning.
@arpie exemestane is otherwise known as aromasin. I was on tamoxifen prior as I was pre-menopausal at 39yo. My oncol changed me to zoladex injections, which supress the ovaries and keep me in artificial meno, with the exemestane, as he believes it's slightly more effective and lower risk. Plus he thinks 5 years on exemestane may be enough as opposed to 10 years on tamoxifen.
8 years ago Place General
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Re: Found new lump in dissected armpit this morning.
Hey @"Kiwi Angel" thanks for checking in. I've decided that since I'm not sure if the lumps are new or not I will monitor for a week & see if there's any changes first.
8 years ago Place General
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Re: Found new lump in dissected armpit this morning.
Thanks ladies. Feeling a little braver. Big girl panties going on tomorrow and I'll make an appointment to investigate. I think I'll phone my trials nurse, whom I really like, and go from there.
8 years ago Place General
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Found new lump in dissected armpit this morning.
Hi everyone, I've not been on here for a few months as my life's been pretty full of non-cancery things. I recently left the family home with my two little ones and it's been an intensely stressful and emotional experience. Anyhow, this morning whilst showering, I found a lumpy area in the armpit which has had all the nodes removed with my mastectomy. I'm less than a year out of active treatment. I was on tamoxifen but switched to zoladex & exemestane a few months ago. I'm also on a clinical trial investigating palbociclib as a preventative. The feel of the lump is all too familiar, but I just don't want to face it. I don't want to tell anyone because sharing the knowledge of its existence means it's really there and I have to do something about it. I'm giving myself a day of denial then I'll have to think about that shit-awful process of scans and needles to confirm helldom. I'm not sure, even, if I should contact my breast surgeon or my oncology trials team. Damn this Ahole SOB disease. Any lymph-cleared, irradiated ladies out there, can you tell me if lumpy scar tissue might be a possibility? Marg @Zoffiel I know you had a local recurrance in the axilla. How did this play out for you? Any help or advice would be appreciated!
8 years ago Place General
recurrence
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Re: Palbociclib trial ladies(how you doing)
Hi @LMK74, still on the trial and doing ok with it. I've not really been on the network for a few months as my personal life is a bit full-on right now. I'd like to go back to work, I'd like to do a regular exercise program. I think this would make a huge difference. It's just a matter of finding the time and energy to make these changes! I'm mentally ready to stop being in the post-treatment zone now. Just need the old body to jump on board with that!! Mostly I can just get a bit down about how different I look and feel. So much fatter, older, weaker and tireder. I don't really know if the palbo is holding me back a bit, but I want to finish the trial. So, I guess, like you, I'm finding it very tollerable but less than ideal. Thanks for thinking of me!
8 years ago Place Hormone blocking therapy
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Re: First dose Palbociclib down the hatch... Pallas trial
Hi @salpal, in general, life on the trial is quite okay. I'm on cycle 9 of 24 of the trial. There are no major side effects that I can directly attribute to palbociclib. There's definitely fatigue, which means there's really nothing left in the energy bank for any kind of paid work after taking care of my kids. Luckily I have income insurance through my super keeping me afloat for now. I suffer from persistent sciatica, but this is more likely from carrying the extra kgs I gained from chemo and haven't lost. I was loosing weight on tamoxifen/palbociclib combo but I've been changed to zoladex plus aromisin with the palbo and back on the weight gain train... sigh! Otherwise, my neutrophils drop significantly each cycle, but not enough to stall the next cycle and I've not been sick becsuse of it. I often wonder if my recovery from chemo/radio would be greater if I weren't on the trial, but my tumor spanned 9cm with vascular involvement, so I'm happy for the extra line of preventative treatment despite the side effects. I'll be 42 when I finish the trial, and my kids are very little.
8 years ago Place Clinical trials and research
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Re: It’s harder and lonelier now that I’m in remission. What’s that about?
I believe it's a fairly common thing, what you're feeling. For me it's a feeling of knowing I've come out the other side different but everyone expects me to be the same as before. I'm really struggling with a sense of being held back when I really want to move forward. No one seems to get it or really want to listen. I have a psychologist, too, who's helping me a bit. There are also post treatment programs and, of course, the bcna helpline if you think it might be helpful.
8 years ago Place Managing stress and anxiety
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