Breast Cancer & Fertility - a Q&A Webinar - 20th Feb, 5 - 6.30pm
For those interested in Breast Cancer & Fertility - register for this webinar on Feb 20th. Around 4,000 women in Australia under the age of 45 are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. For those in their childbearing years decisions about treatment need to consider fertility, as treatments such as chemotherapy and hormone therapy may induce premature menopause and can reduce a woman’s chance of having children. Moderated by author and journalist Annabel Crabb, the panel of experts will discuss fertility preservation options, informed decision making, and the latest research – including the POEMS clinical trial, which your support has made possible. https://www.breastcancertrials.org.au/news/qa-events/qa-breast-cancer-and-fertility/
Webcast: Fertility and breast cancer, knowing your options. Tuesday 8 June 2021
Hello everyone, Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Australian women. While breast cancer is most common in women over the age of 50 years, approximately 1,988 of the 20,825 Australians diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 will be premenopausal women aged between 20 and 44 years of age. Breast cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and hormone-blocking therapy, can impact the fertility of premenopausal/young women diagnosed with breast cancer. If fertility preservation is important to you, there are a range of options available to you. Because of the potential impact of breast cancer treatment on women’s fertility, it is essential that all premenopausal women receive up-to-date, evidence-based information about their fertility preservation options before treatment begins so that you can make decisions about treatment and fertility that reflect your preferences, needs and values. Register here. In this free webcast you’ll hear from Lee McCarron, who was affected by breast cancer, and will discuss her fertility journey as well as from breast cancer specialist Dr Rachael Rodgers and Family Therapist Marianne Tome. This webcast will provide you - premenopausal women affected by early breast cancer - with timely, evidence-based information about the current fertility preservation options available, while encouraging a greater awareness of best practice care for breast cancer ensuring you are involved in shared decision-making regarding your treatment and care. Event Details Date: Tuesday, June 8 Time: 7.00pm AEST Where: Online – from your computer, tablet, or laptop Your Local Time: WA: 5.00pm NT, SA: 6.30pm QLD, ACT, NSW, TAS, VIC: 7.00pm
27 year old lobular carcinoma
Hi there, I’m 27 and based in Brisbane just now. 12 days ago I was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma. I don’t yet know lymph involvement but am guessing it’s likely (nothing showed on USS or palpable however.) My surgeon has recommended a full lymph clearance. Is there anyone else out there this young with lobular? My biggest fear is leaving my husband behind without any children, what if my illness causes him to miss his chance of having kids with someone else one day? Unfortunately I’m a nurse so know a bit too much about what I’m about to go through. I have a mastectomy in 3 days and axillary clearance. Trying to remain positive. At what point did you ladies meet your oncologist? I’m not meeting them until next week when the final pathology/sizing etc is back after surgery and they’ve had an MDT to decide my treatment plan. Is this normal? I’m public.
Long messy ramble - fertility after BC - needed a vent (thanks & sorry!)
Well once again I havent stopped by here for a while. I have been feeling too sad and needed to get my thoughts sorted out a bit better before trying to write it out. (this website is very cathartic) In December I decided to be proactive with the idea of starting a family since I had been given permission to stop taking Tamoxifen (Yay!). I excitedly went and had a blood test to see what my ovarian reserve was like after chemo/zoladex/radio. Unfortunately the results were so low we were told that we would have to do IVF as soon as possible at a cost of over 12k (which we dont have) but the specialist wanted me to have another blood test in Feb 3 days into my period to see if my AMH results improved at all. I had the original AMH test very soon after finishing tamoxifen and my Dr thought it may have influenced the results. My result in December was: 2 At my age (37) it should have been between 17 and twenty something (27?). This news was just heart breaking. I know that IVF doesnt work for everyone and is a crazy emotional rollercoaster that costs money we just dont have. I started looking into accessing my Super which apparently you can do for IVF and there is some company that helps with the from at a cost of $200 Anyway. Waiting for Feb to have the blood test was a long wait so we decided to just give it a go naturally in the mean time. I started taking the right vitamins and ditched the condoms. I had been feeling a bit weird and started to wonder if we had managed to beat the odds so off I went to buy some home pregnancy tests. They were positive! Straight to the GP the next day to confirm with a blood test and yup. I was pregnant. We just couldn't believe our luck! Being pregnant after BC treatment automatically deems you 'high risk' so I tried desperately not to get too excited but it was just impossible not too. When you can feel your body changing there is no way you can not think about it and all my blood tests were coming in with good numbers so things were going well. Being high risk means you get sent for ultrasounds much sooner than normal so we had four all up. At the 3rd we got to see a little squiggle with a heart beat and by ultrasound 4 its little heart had stopped. I think it was called a missed miscarriage. Its when the baby stops growing but your body doesn't realise. I was still getting all the symptoms of being pregnant but it wasn't ment to be. The standard next step is to wait 2 weeks to see if your body passes it all naturally, if not you need to go in for a procedure. It was the hardest 2 weeks ever. I couldn't go to work as I was convinced the final part of the miscarriage would start while at work and it takes me an hour to get home on the train - there was no way I was going to spend and hour on the train bleeding and bawling my eyes out! I ended up needing to have the procedure which went well. By that point I was just happy to get closure on that front. So it has been two weeks since the procedure and I now have my annual boob ultrasound and mammogram next coming up next week. While I was pregnant my 'normal' boob was crazy tender where as my operated on boob was just occasionally feeling weird. Since my hormones have been coming back to normal I have had a whole bunch of pimples and my operated on boob has been feeling weird more frequently under my scar. I am so emotionally spent that I am now stressing more than normal about the upcoming check up. I was only pregnant for 2 months but my cancer was hormone positive. I have read stats that pregnancy doesnt cause cancer but as I said, I am emotionally wrecked at the moment, the combo of hormones and not sleeping doesnt help! I havent had time to fully process the miscarriage yet. I know it sounds dramatic but I am scared that this was our one and only chance. I have always been a very positive person and after going through BC I thought everything else would be a breeze. I couldnt have been more wrong. It has taken me awhile to figure out why I am not handling this as well (hahaha) as I did BC but I realised that my escapes during treatment were facebook, tv & movies. It seems at the moment every facebook post is another friends pregnant belly, pics of adorable babies and people posting about how amazing it is to be a parent. TV and movies are just as bad! While I was pregnant I was researching baby stuff online and now all my pop up ads are baby related. There just seems to be no escape! Logically I know that we can try again and IVF might be an option money permitting. I also know that if we cant have children it isnt the end of the world - I mean. I beat BC! I should be happy right?! I guess I am just grieving. Looking forward to progressing to the angry phase instead of sad. There is no real point to this ramble. I was just hoping that having a little vent would help. I thought things would be easier since treatment finished but I guess the roller-coaster ride continues.Waiting for periods to return after chemo
Hello, i am now 7 months post chemo and am 31 yrs old and there is no sign of my periods returning. My oncologist did say that my chances of them returning as I am under 40 are higher but they could take up to a year or even longer for them to return. A few months back I didn’t care as I was almost sure that I didn’t want children but now I do want children one day and I would hate to think my periods are never returning ! is anyone else in a similiar situation as me ? also, does me technically being in “menopause” mean I can’t get pregnant if I have unprotected sex?
Friday Update!
Hi everyone and welcome to the Friday update. This week we have 18 new members. Please help me welcome @caseymmcc, @susieq2, @breast65, @el46 and all our other new members. Community highlights Each week we have lots of different discussions take place in the online network. These can include questions, updates, celebrations and so much more. Here are some conversations this week you may have missed: @ccasper - Fertility post chemo @wndsrfn - 2nd year check up @becmac - Annual scans and stereotactic biopsy @wendh67 - On line support friends Congratulations to our wonderful member Karen who completed a Certificate III in Fitness as part of BCNA’s partnership with Fernwood Fitness Foundation Scholarship Program! After being diagnosed with breast cancer Karen became passionate about the use of exercise to manage the side effects of treatment & reduce the risk of reoccurrence. Karen is excited to use her training to help other breast cancer survivors in the Darwin community. To read Karen's story click here. News & events Tamoxifen added to PBS for women at increased risk of breast cancer. To read more click here. Do you know someone who has a disability and has been affected by breast cancer? BCNA would like to understand what information and support people with a disability who have breast cancer need. We also are interested in the breast cancer information and support needs of people who support people with a disability. To find out more information click here. Newcastle Information Forum - Tuesday 11th October. To register click here Our partners & supporters BCNA is fortunate to have partners and supporters that help us ensure we deliver our programs and services free of charge to Australia's affected by breast cancer. Florsheim has just released a new BCNA range of shoes for men and woman. Our Partnerships Coordinator, Zoe Jennings, tells us how this idea was born at one of our information forums. When I started working at BCNA in January, I got to know a few of our wonderful volunteers and their sense of fashion when it comes to footwear. I thought it would be great to have a beautiful, comfortable hot pink wedge for our lovely ladies to wear to support and promote BCNA. After doing my research on the various shoe companies, I knew that Florsheim was the best fit with BCNA and our members. A meeting was set up and we pitched the idea. Florsheim immediately agreed. They were very generous and I knew it was going to be an incredible partnership. The BCNA range recently launched in all Florsheim stores. There are six women’s and three men’s shoes. The best part is that with every pair purchased, $40 is donated to BCNA. This helps support our programs and services such as our information forums, kits, and the online network. So head into any Florsheim store to pick up your favourite pair! For more information about our partnerships. Active & wellness tip Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can! Everyone is different so it is important to set yourself realistic goals and to listen to your body, start excising at an appropriate level for you. No gym membership? No problem. Use basic items that are already have. Cans of food for weights, walk up and down the stairs. Any exercise is better than none and more is better than less so try and avoid inactivity. Here is a little inspiration leading into the weekend from our creative members of the online network Have a lovely weekend, Ann-Marie x
Fertility post chemo
hi everyone i hope everyone is kicking butt on their journey. i am 30 and was diagnosed 3 months ago with TN. I have a 14 month old son and didn't have time to freeze any eggs before chemo started. My question is, has anyone here had a baby post treatment or got an idea of what their fertility was? i would love to think I can have a second baby but I am very lucky to have my little boy already. I have been having my period and and I have also still been ovulating through chemo. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance! ☺️
Fertility preservation - what's involved?
Hi everyone. I'm 33 and was diagnosed a few weeks ago. I don't have children and for most of my life I've never wanted them, but I've never completely 100% ruled them out either. It's been suggested that I should consider having some eggs or embryos frozen. But I'm not sure it's a route I want to go down. I've had friends who got IVF and it seemed like a pretty involved process and a lot of hassle for a pretty uncertain result. Has anyone here had eggs frozen? What was involved? How much does it cost to keep them? How long can you keep them for? Did you use them later?
Hot & Sweaty
Hello. I've just finished 4 rounds of chemo, had my mastectomy in January. I was wondering when the hot flushes stopped for anyone else? It's only been 2wks, but today it felt like I was constantly in a flush...more then usual. I'm 41, haven't had children yet so a fertility specialist put me on a special nasel spray that basically put my ovaries to sleep during the chemo, I'm sure this added to the flushes. I guess I'm just looking for a light at the end of my tunnel! Thank u. Peace & Love x
Newbie, 27, no kids, HER2+ Breast Cancer
Hi, I'm new on here and just wanted to introduce myself. I'm 27, have a loving partner, no kids, and on the 11th of October I found a 7mm diameter lump in my right breast. It was diagnosed quickly as aggressive HER2 receptor amplified Stage 1/1A breast cancer. It has been caught incredibly early, and I'm so so thankful. I've just had my second chemo cycle of 6, and this time round they put a porta cath in. I'm finding the healing of the port quite uncomfortable and very restrictive - is this normal? I've been checking my temperature but no worrying signs there. Following chemo will be the lumpectomy, radiation, a year of herceptin and then tamoxifen. Generally I've been feeling quite isolated in terms of my age and breast cancer, though every person's story has been a help in some way. My partner and I had the immediate shock of discussing fertility and having to make a snap decision. We didn't opt for IVF as it was too expensive and I wasn't at a great point in my cycle anyway (delaying chemo was a big no go for me). Given my age the doctors seem to think Zoladex should keep my fertility protected - but oh my goodness those injections! Dreading my next one next week!! I know it's worth it though. I'm focusing on staying positive, and have mostly been managing really well, but for some reason this cycle round I'm finding it harder. I have an amazing support network around me, and yet I find myself trying to protect them from what I'm feeling. Hoping to hear if anyone's going through similar feelings or is in a similar situation. All the best x
