Annabel Crabb - Q&A on Recurrence & Fear of Recurrence - 11th May 5-6.30pm
Annabel Crabb is doing another online presentation on Recurrence & fear of recurrence this time (last one was on mets) I have registered & will hopefully watch it later as that is hubby's chemo day, so I may not be able to watch 'live'. You can also put up a specific question if you like when you register (tho as thousands attend, it may not be addressed 'live') I've put one up about Lobular recurrence - as it can also recur in the bowel/gut/stomach/bladder - but if a biopsy is done & the pathologist doing the tests is not aware of the Lobular status - it can be missed if they only use 'regular' cancer testing ..... it has to be specifically added on the 'request' to look for lobular. Symptoms are cramping, diarrhoea, pain, bloating, reflux, incontinence .... so if you ever get any of this & it persists - get checked out & if you are ILC - mention it. Join us for our next online Q&A all about breast cancer recurrence. We're bringing together leading Australian breast cancer researchers to answer your questions on this important subject. Moderated by Australian TV presenter, commentator and author Annabel Crabb. https://www.breastcancertrials.org.au/news/qa-events/qa-registration/
Fear of recurrence
after being diagnosed early January 2020 with stage 2 TNBC First went through chemotherapy then lumpectomy and finished in September with Radiation all my results came back with great results no lymph node activity clear margins and full pathological response to treatment I was coping quite well with day to day life after much Counselling until I went for my recent 3 month appointment with specialist I got a student Dr who was adamant I had a new lump. as I lay there on the bed waiting for my actual specialist to come and check me over my mind was going crazy with the worst kind of thoughts My specialist of 40 years experience checked my breast and said there is no lump and told the student Dr to remove the notes from my record and the reassured my husband and I it was only normal breast tissue I have been a mess now for over a week and have examined my breast now 3 times or more a day finding lumps that now seem bigger and hurt is my anxiety taking over? I called the cancer council and they recommended to stop self examination’s for a bit and believe my specialist my Mammogram 1st since diagnosis isn’t until February and the specialist doesn’t see me again until mid February sorry for long rant (Anxiety does this) x
Male Breast Cancer
Hi All, I feel a little out of place here, and yet it feels like the right place to be chatting. Its very unusual in men but I was diagnosed with what I now know was a stage two breast cancer on Christmas eve last year. I've since been through 6 months of chemo, mastectomy and axillary clearance and am 5 days into a 25 day radiotherapy course. My oncologist tells me my prognosis is quite good really, she showed me a prognosis tool called "Predict Breast" that says 10 year survival rate for a cancer of my type and size is 90%. I have to say though that the biggest challenge for me so far has been in my head. The fear of recurrence is so persistent. Does anyone have any good tips for coping mechanisms? Thanks DannyLiving in fear !
Hello everyone new to all this as I thought I could cope on my own .. rookie mistake ! I was diagnosed July last year early stage breast cancer. I had Radiation and just got on with life I felt blessed that it had been caught early .. but 7 months down the track I’m finding I keep worrying about it coming back and cry at silly things now .. is this normal and how do I stop the morbid thoughts .. thank you in advance for any suggestions :)
I made my 5 year milestone from my 2nd diagnosis :)
Hey All! Been a very long time since I've posted in the main Forum, however I felt it important to share this. My first diagnosis was in 2011, I underwent a lumpectomy, radiation and tamoxifen. 4yrs later at my routine yearly checkup, I was diagnosed with a recurrence in the scar tissue of the lumpectomy :( it was a 2.5cm tumor ER+ Stage 2, Grade 3 aggressive. I had a lumpectomy, chemo and put on Arimidex in January 2016. 1yr later due to my Oncologists recommendation and Genetic Testing which was negative, I had a single mastectomy/diep flap reconstruction in Feb 2017. To say the path over the past 9 years has been incredibly soul destroying on every possible level, I know that every single one of you here will identify with that. It was a long road to recovery, my world was ripped apart at 2nd diagnosis and I honestly didn't know how my life would ever be the same or remotely normal again. To be able to say I hit 5yrs for the road I have traveled is enormous, in so many ways. Not only did I recover I'd say to possibly 90% capacity, I've been back at work full time now for 2yrs, it is tough at times yes. I have just bought a new home after moving across Melbourne 2yrs ago and got a new job. I start 2020, not just with a blessing that I made it to this, I bought a new home but I also got a promotion. If anyone told me 5yrs ago this is where I would be? I would not have believed it...how could anyone?? I didn't feel anything was possible anymore and I didnt know how this experience was going to redefine who I was or where I was going. To anyone out there beginning this road, hang in there, whatever feeds your soul..DO THAT! nurture you and honor every bit of you along the way, this is what I learnt. Life is a blessing, a gift, Ive never taken it for granted and I still don't know what is ahead...but today I will celebrate because I worked so hard to get here. Don't give up...one step at a time and don't ever apologize when you fall...just make sure you get back up.. You can all do this...keep going.. Hugs xoxo M
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.
Bladder cancer
Has anyone had their breast cancer go to the bladder. I recently went to Dr for stomach pain /discomfort and after cat scan was told I have a 17mm lump in my bladder the dr has told me that this would not be causing the discomfort in my abdomen but of course now I am worried that it is cancer I don't think I'm strong enough to do this all again my breast cancer diagnosis was November 2012 my annual oncologist appointment is in a couple of weeks and we are stopping the letrazole then.. Any information on this would be appreciated immensely as I'm worried sick ..
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!
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.bc recurrence
Hi lovely ladies. ...Just wondering if anyone has had a bc recurrence within the first 18mths of surgery and treatment....It has been13mths since my surgery and 10mths since my radiation treatment. For about 3weeks now I have had intermittent pain in an area in my chest above where one of my two cancers were. I also have a lot of pain, when it does come, along my scar line and in the inner part of my armpit. I am a little worried at the moment even though I tell myself it is nothing. I know we all worry. Oh I had a DCIS cancer and an invasive cancer in the left breast and had a partial mastectomy and 5 weeks of radiation and a sentinel node removed.