Video re Mets BC .... EVERYONE needs to watch it
My sister just shared this video on Facebook - this video went viral in 2015 in the USA and around the world, currently with 54,000,000+ views on Facebook alone. Holley Kitchen passed away in January, 2016, from Mets BC, age 43. 30% of those diagnosed with 'early, treatable, non spread' BC who have been told there is NED (No Evidence of Disease) will go on to be diagnosed with Metastatic BC - whether they have had their breasts removed or not. Most with BC are not made aware of this possibility in consultations with their surgeon or Oncs - but you NEED TO KNOW - so that if you DO GET unexplained ACHES & PAINS in the coming years - GET CHECKED OUT! It COULD be an indication of a problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDQ0FjP7J-c And her follow up video a few weeks later - a 40% increase in awareness of Mets BC due to her earlier video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63yTZxj7FOk An interview with Holley Kitchen re Mets BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijN11LLteTw There needs to be more research into Mets BC - to be able to identify it earlier & treat it better.
Diet, exercise, lifestyle to decrease the risk of BC recurrence
I am hoping this will be a place where you will ALL share your tricks and plans, your hopes and goals for trying to be that little bit healthier each day. There is a lot of information available and it is daunting trying to sort through it. I am not only looking for guidelines and links but for your collective practical wisdom - for recipes, for places to source food, for what gets you out of bed and fed in the morning, for what makes you go to sleep at night, and alas the holy grail for what makes you hold it calmly together during the day, while juggling treatments and home and life. Nutritional Science here we come...seriously hoping we can put our heads together and support each other to be that little bit healthier each day.
Recurrence in lymph nodes
Hi everyone, I was diagnosed with TN Inflammatory BC in late Oct 2017. Treatment was 5 mths of Chemo ( 8wks fortnightly A/C, followed by 12 weeks weekly Taxol) then modified radical mastectomy (rt breast and 3 lymph nodes) which showed only a tiny amount (1.3mm) of residual disease with excellent margins. There had been evidence of activity in the lymphnodes. Surgery was followed by 5 weeks radiation and then I had what I refer to as my bonus chemo - 4 months of Capecitabine (Xeloda). That all took me to Christmas 2018. Since then I have been feeling better each day and looking fabulous (according to my dear friends and family!). On an o/s trip in early June I noticed the onset of lymphoedema in the right arm - sad but not completely unexpected after the radiation. As soon as I got home I booked in to see my surgeon, who is wonderful and always says to see him asap if anything changes. He sent me for an ultrasound, having said he didn't expect anything sinister. Unfortunately the ultrasound shows at least three lymphnodes appear enlarged and diseased - I go back on Wednesday for a Fine Needle Biopsy, but the radiologist made it pretty clear she thinks it's not going to be good news. I have to wait until next Monday 22nd for the results and to know what I'm looking at in the way of further diagnostics/prognosis/a treatment plan etc. I know there's not much advice anyone can give at this stage, but am just having a little freak out and trying very hard to stay calm for my darling husband, so I thought you would all understand if I had a little figurative scream in this forum!! I am searching my self for the inner strength to do this all again - in some ways easier when you know what it entails, and in some ways so much harder for the same reason. Worried and sad, but trying to be strong. Sally
Should I be worried
I had a high grade DCIS last year and had a right breast lumpectomy and a reconstruction. My right breast took 4 months to heal and as a result I had no radiotherapy or Tamoxifen. I have started to get itching and soreness in my left breast, but am not sure whether it's still part of the healing process from the reconstruction, or whether it's something I should be worried about. I have a follow up mammogram booked for August, but can't get this out of my mind. I moved from NSW to Queensland 3 months ago so can't go back to the surgeon. I've joined this site as I'm hoping someone can give me peace of mind.
Will I see my girls grow up
only finished my treatment in November. Chemo and radiotherapy as preventative treatment after successful lumpectomy that had spread to 2 lymph nodes. Now on holidays in Queensland and after a freak accident at Movie World that hurt my ribs I had a CT scan to check for damage I have received the devastating news that I have 8 - 10 tumours in my lungs! I can't help but assume the worst. How long will I realistically have before I die?
Ditching the 5-year sentence of hormonal therapy?
Hello everyone, I am currently doing my second attempt at hormonal therapy drugs, and I hate it; no surprises there. I do all the things...take all the advice, all the stuff that is meant to make HT easier. But there’s only so much mindfulness you can do before just saying hey this stuff sucks and I don’t know if it’s worth it. I may be looking for a needle in a haystack lol but I’m really curious to know if the stats my onco tells me every time I see her can ever be wrong. I guess I also am in horrible denial about having to take these drugs for the rest of my life. I just can’t believe the only choice I have is life-stealing HT side effects or more breast cancer. I am very rational and scientific so of course I will take them based on the evidence and hope it prevents a relapse. I still feel so ripped off though. My question is: have any women out there started on that long jail sentence of HT meds, found that it completely ruined their quality of life, tried their very best to make it work but couldn’t, then went off it completely and DIDN’T have a relapse of breast cancer ever again? Has anyone heard any stories like this? H xo
3 types of cancer, how do I not live in fear?
I had Hodgkin's Lymphoma 23 years ago. Was successfully treated with radiation therapy +surgery. 10years later they confirmed I had what is now considered an overdose of radiation (standard amount at the time). It caused a chronic thyroid condition, and receding gums, half my teeth fell out... healthy teeth :'( . 21 years after the radiation, I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and Padgets disease, both diseases in both breasts and both nipples, caused by the radiation therapy. (they NO LONGER administer such large doses, they are more educated in radiation therapy now). Chemo, full mastectomy, and tram flap reconstruction later, now on tamoxifen. I feel no anger that the radiation has had such lasting effects, I have lived, loved, become a parent and for the most part I have been healthy for decades. The doctors saved my life. But I fear recurrence, and mostly I fear more long term complications. I had the least amount of chemo possible and no more radiation as they now fear my heart may not stand too much more cancer treatments. I fear leukemia etc as my life has proven you CAN get secondary cancers from treatment. I live in limbo. If I have thrush... the docs send me for an internal ultrasound, if I have constipation...they order a colonoscopy, their caution keeps me in this world of fear. I try not to be scared, but it is the first thing that enters my head every morning when I wake.
Lifestyle and Diet Changes After Cancer.
Hi all, I have done chemo from Feb to April after surgery in Dec. Radiotherapy was done in May. My herceptin treatment will continue till next Feb. I thought that was it, until I heard several cases of cancer recurrence around me!!! Ok, to be exact, at least 7-8 cases. Most of them are breast cancer cases but there were 2-3 other cancers. Some of them came back within months, some a few years and even one after a decade. These negative news unnerved and puzzled me. So I started to researching the many questions I had. I wonder if you ladies ever experience this (hearing negative news like that)? Do you ever ask why? My researching seems to point out that lifestyle (physical, emotional, mental) and diet changes are extremely important to avoid a recurrence. I read about how animal protein promotes cancer growth. And I have made further adjustments to my diet. I hardly take animal protein and it's been a few months now... not easy cos I need to feed a family who still eats meat. Has anyone heard about the Gerson Therapy? Apparently lots of cancer patients benefited from this therapy. And it's beneficial for even patients who have done the conventional treatments.
How to curb the fear
Hi everyone, it has been quite sometime since I have been on the network. We have had other dramas in our life and my focus has tended to be on that. A couple of weeks ago my psychologist commented on how sever my anxiety and depression is. I have struggled so much emotionally since finishing my cancer treatment back in 2015. I coped so much better whilst I was having treatment. so much has happened though since then. Now my anxiety is off the ritcher scale. 2 weeks ago I developed a pain in my "good" boob. I wasn't too concerned, maybe a cyst. I couldn't feel a lump though. I saw my GP last Wednesday as it wasn,t improving and she referred me straight back to the breast surgeon. I have an appointment for this Thursday. In between times the pain in my breast has gone into my under arm and now the entire breast hurts. It is swollen and I have an ache going from the top of my shoulder into my neck. There is still no noticeable lumps. I haven't had any temperatures, so I don't believe it is an infection and I am post menopausal thanks to chemo, so I don't believe it is hormonal. There is no rash or discolouration but I am absolutely terrified that it will be inflammatory bc. I am struggling to sleep, partly from pain but mainly from anxiety. What if, what if, what if?????? I just don't know how to curb the fear. I have had several scares over the last few years and I have been a mess each time until I get the all clear. How do you deal with the fear and the anxiety about it coming back? I am and have been convinced that the cancer is going to return just because my original diagnosis was very aggressive.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!