WTF 2020
Good evening everyone...I really thought 2020 was going to be my year! Anyone else? First the fires...floods...then I thought I was having a heart attack which turned out to be Takotsubo cardiomyopathy..say what! Then COVID-19...millions lose their job...and thousands lose their lives 😢...isolation and now they found a lesion on my skull and I had a MRI this week...to say I’m not worried is a big fat lie...and yes Dr Google has not been my friend...I’m just waiting to be told when I’m seeing the neurologist. If it is malignant what should I expect, I know every cancer is different but I’m thinking the worse...can anyone help with some positive stories please xx
Test anxiety
Hi ladies, I had a CT & bone scan last week. My oncologist usually sends me an SMS if everything is ok (ie that the mets are stable). Not so this time. So my imagination has gone into overdrive. I am thinking the worst. I meet with him tomorrow morning. Very anxious. I hate waiting for test results! Ange
Metastatic breast cancer and fear of cancer progression
Feeling anxious and frightened about breast cancer spreading further is common for people who have metastatic breast cancer. Many people worry what will happen if their treatment needs to change or what treatment options will be available to them if their cancer spreads. We've created a video series about the fear of cancer progression. While fear of cancer progressing may never fade, there are ways to manage it. To see the videos, click here: https://www.bcna.org.au/metastatic-breast-cancer/fear-of-cancer-progression/ And then come back and talk to us. What is it like for you? How do you cope? Are these kinds of videos helpful. We want to hear from you. We acknowledge that this topic and these videos can be very confronting and triggering. So, I also want to remind our members living with metastatic breast cancer that BCNA provides free and confidential, professional, one-on-one counselling support to women and men living with metastatic breast cancer, and their families. To learn more and book an appointment, click here.
Scared
Hi, I'm new to this kind of discussion so please be patient with me. I was diagnosed with metastasic breast cancer last year. So far with chemotherapy I feel relatively good. But now it is the time of a PAP smear and I so don't want to do it. I'm so scared they find anything. Not that there are any reasons to believe they would. Last time after a PAP smear the nurse called me to make an appointment with the words I really hate "there is nothing to worry about". I ended up in hospital with an anxiety attack. In the end after an gynological examination everything was fine. But after 5 years of Tamoxifen I couldn't be sure. I'm not taking that drug anymore. Do I really have to go or can I ignore the annoying letters from the PAP smear register? What do you think? A good advice is appreciated. Thanks to all Sabineoverwhelmed!!
Hi, I got diagnosed with Secondary breast cancer in my lungs 6 weeks ago (20 April ) After going through breast cancer in 2014 which resulted in a mastectomy and 12 months of chemo....then got hit with the news that it has spread to my lungs.... since then I have had my port put back in and two chemo sessions. I am feeling lost and overwhelmed of what I should be doing. I have had to stop work which has put a stain on my family and im not sure where to turn or what to do..... Any help/advice would be great....Thanks
The new normal
This is my first post. My name is Heli. I was diagnosed with metastatic disease 4 years ago and have been living very well until earlier this year. I started chemotherapy in June, had major side effects and stopped the treatment but am still very unwell 3 months on. The Drs describe my condition as extreme fatigue, I was in hospital for days and feel I have come home weaker. I need help every day, I try to walk a bit every day but can't go out on my own. This is a huge adjustment and I miss my old life, walking my dog, doing yoga, driving my car....all things I took for granted. Now it is an effort to get dressed, takes me hours. I have come home under a palliative care team. This feels very scary and hard to accept. I have never been an anxious person but some times find this overwhelming and find the days very long even though I have someone popping in most days. I live with husband and he is very supportive but he is struggling too. I think I am going to have adjust to living this new life without energy. I find it very hard to ask for help but am getting there with that one. My oncologist hopes I will improve but it hasn't happened yet and I think I need to come to terms with living this way. I try to stay in the moment and not let my mind go into the uncertainty about the future. Sometimes I feel my heart will beat right out of my chest! The cancer has come back in my small intestine. It has never showed on a scan an was diagnosed after surgery. Apart from the weakness and fatigue I have very uncomfortable symptoms that make life difficult. I am on quite a restricted diet but have no interest in food. Am am going on and on here and I feel a bit chaotic in my thinking so I will sign off now. It is really draining to write too much. I wanted to post to a 'depression and anxiety' group but am un familiar with how this works so not sure where this post will end up. Thanks for listening helena
advanced breast cancer - could have been caught early
Hello I was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer to the liver and hip (non weight baring on right leg) in April. I am ER/PR+ HER2 + and was given a prognosis of 2 years to live. I have two kids aged 11 and 13. Three years ago I had a mamogram and ultrasound which shows that there was a tumour in the same location as the tumour today (much bigger today). My specialist at the time told me that I had cysts in the breast and nothing to worry about. She told me that I did not need to do a mamogram every 2 years because of my age and that i could leave it till I was much older (37 at the time) I left her office feeling confident and relieved. Now I am crushed and terrified of the prognosis which has been given as I need to see my kids grow up into adults. I have had 2 sessions of cemo (4 to go) and then scheduled to be on herceptin and perjera indefinitely. I have a CT scan scheduled for next week to see if there is any improvement. I am terrified and can only hope that the treatment works. I was wondering if there are other women who have survived this beyond 2,5,10 years and how they are able to stay positive and not let anxiety, depression anger bring them down.
Diagnosed stage 4
Hello, I am mother of 2 young girls and just diagnosed stage 4, six months after completing all the adjunctive treatment for stage 1 early breaststroke cancer. I am trying hard to get my head around it all, especially after all signs were good. I was wondering how long any one has survived stage 4, I have just started chemo therapy again, it's hard not knowing whether it will work or not.
Scared, confused and need advice
Hi, I don't even know where to start or what to say because at this stage I don't really know anything - I had breast cancer 6 years ago mastectomy chemo and reconstruction. To me it was the past something that happened, I know in the back of my mind I always knew it would come back but know the reality is here... It's just too hard to cope. I feel fine but having had to find a new doctor he sent me for tests to get to know my health and tests started coming back abnormal now a CT scan shows extensive liver metastatic disease. I only know this so far because the report was in with the scans I need to take to the Oncologist on Monday ...I am numb scared... Thinking I won't even see Xmas... I have a 3 week holiday booked for next Friday with a girlfriend we have been planning it for a year I have had a really bad emotional and stressful couple of years... I was waiting to come back to do my yearly scans etc ... Does anyone have any advice on waiting 3 weeks to start treatment if that would be ok... I know this should be the last thing on my mind .. But I think if I only have months I should do everything I want to do while I feel good .. But then I think can I become really sick in a week or 2 ... I feel I am going insane!
Feeling scared and uncertain
3 years ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and underwent a right mastectomy, chemo radiotherapy and then started on tamoxifen. Whilst always living in the shadow of it returning, I got on with life, saw my stepson marry, my son become a father and my daughter is just completing year 12. I thought I was ok. Then 5 weeks ago my world crumbled around me when I discovered the cancer had returned in my scar tissue and I have now been told I have advanced breast cancer. I consider myself lucky it hasn't spread to my bones or organs but I am terrified that it will. My oncologist is putting me on levistol along with a new clinical trial which she says has amazing results in the USA. She sounds very optimistic and assures me that if my cancer doesn't respond to these drugs there are plenty of others. So why do I feel so scared this time round? I guess I am now facing my own mortality and that scares me. I am only 52 and have so much more living to do. I understand that many women live with secondaries for years, I would love to hear from you and how you coped with this news. I am a positive person, I have to keep fighting as I don't fancy the alternative, but realistically I feel I have just been handed a death sentence. I am sorry if this sounds blunt, but this is how I am feeling right now. Any guidance or words of support would be greatly appreciated. Also, I live in Perth so if anyone can recommend any good support groups that may be a help to me. Thank you xx