Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Hello Michael,
Thank you for posting the sad news about Noleen Adair. I have just read the link and it is very sad to read of the death of such a young woman. She showed remarkable courage during her thirteen years of coping with her breast cancer and she packed a lot of work to raise money for breast cancer during that time.
I do hope all is well with you.
Best wishes.
Sylvia
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Hello everyone,
I am popping in to say that I am thinking of all of you and hoping that you are all managing to have a relaxing weekend.
I am sure we are all thinking of the two Marys as they continue their chemotherapy journey.
To Maryna8, I do hope your eyes have improved and I also hope that your husband is feeling better. You two are having a difficult time.
To Marymargaret, I do hope you are managing to relax this weekend and doing all you can to prepare for the next chemotherapy session.
To Jackpot (Gill), I do hope you are managing to do something relaxing this weekend to make time go quickly. Remember, all of us on the thread are thinking of you. It is true that only those of us that are going through this cancer journey or have been through it, can really understand all that we go through. Those around us do not understand what we experience and so they cannot really make any in depth contribution. All they can do is give us words of reassurance that we shall be alright.
I have been busy reading the book Beat Cancer, newly published in 2014. I do like the way it is written in ten steps.
Step 1, Inform yourself.
Step 2, Find your balance.
Step 3, Choose the right conventional therapies for you.
Step 4, Know which complementary therapies can help.
Step 5, Eat to beat cancer.
Step 6, Protect yourself with exercise.
Step 7, Be aware of your environment.
Step 8, Manage stress.
Step 9, Broaden your awareness.
Step 10, Stay on course.
Most of it is highly readable.
To everyone in our group, thank you for all your input and support to those going through treatment.
How are you all spending the months of July and August? Let us know.
To Adagio, have a good Canada Day and to our American friends, have a good July 4th.
Thinking of you all.
Sylvia.
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Hi Slyvia,
Thursday was day14 and hair started to come out! So booked an appt with a good wig clinic and picked it up on Saturday. So had my long blonde locks shaved off and went out with a lovely thick head of new blonde hair! Not as bad an ordeal as I thought, but having a natural looking wig I am sure has helped.
I just feel really tired and constantly feeling my melon sized lump to see if it has reduced yet. How far into chemo did anyone begin to feel a change? Also got a dull pain just at the back of my armpit, is that travelling pain?
I am thinking of you Jackpot gill, the returning bit is a fear and is on my mind constantly. I don't know if you are religious, but I have included you in my prayers to St Agatha who is the patron saint of women with BC.
Mary
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hi Mary
I'm glad the losing the hair wasn't as traumatic as it could of been, I never done the wig thing I could never find one that looked natural but I'm sure finding a decent one has helped, I had surgery first so can't help with your question but I'm sure chemo is doing it's stuff
Thanks for including me in your prayer, I was never religious before but don't mind admitting I've prayed a few times myself these last few months, good luck with your next chemo, I hope the side affects aren't too bad
Take care
Gill
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Jackpot, sorry to read of your bumps, it must be so hard waiting till the biopsy. Here's hoping they are just little innocent bits of scar tissue or cysts. I am wishing all the best for you.
Mary Margaret, you must be about due for another chemo. Hope all goes well for you. I am due today for another round, I am a bit anxious about it since I had quite a few SE's last time. I didn't know there was a patron saint of breast cancer. I will remember St. Agatha, hope she can help us all.
Sylvia, hope all is well for you and Raymond. My husband has been home from the hospital since last Friday, he hasn't gone anywhere and is doing pretty well. There is a home health nurse coming by and I told her she will have two patients, since I have been having a harder time with things; physically and mentally. She said okay.
Best wishes to all, Mary
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Hello Mary
I hope all goes well with your chemotherapy today and that you will not suffer too many side effects. Just keep telling yourself you can do this.
I was glad to know your husband is back home and doing well.
Make sure you make good use of the nurse who is coming to visit your husband. Make sure she takes care of you as well.
Thinking of you and wishing you well.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
I hope you are all having a good week.
I am still going through the book Beat Cancer - the ten step plan to help you overcome and prevent cancer.
I have been concentrating on step 5, eat to beat cancer, because I think what we eat or do not eat plays an important part in whether we eventually develop breast cancer or not. I have read in this step that the links between diet and cancer were highlighted more than 30 years ago when Professors Richard Doll and Richard Peto reported that more than a third of all cancers might be attributable to dietary factors.
This part on diet is 39 pages long, so it is important.
Step 5 is divided under the heading Ten Essential Food Factors. The factors are as follows.
1. Eat real food.
2. Eat organic.
3. Balance your diet.
4. Reduce your intake of acid-generating foods (a lot of acid generating foods are animal protein, eggs, meat, fish and dairy. Cheese is the most acid generating food of all with hard cheese generating up to three times more acidity than roast beef). Fizzy drinks and colas are high in phosphorous and are acid generating.
Most fruits and vegetables, even tomatoes and citrus fruits, such as lemons, are alkali generating.
You need to have a balance between the two. In this book there are lists of these foods.
5. Eat vegetable protein, not animal protein. There are explanations as to why you should do this. It is well worth a read.
6. Get your fats right.
7. Good carbs - Bad carbs. On page 149 there is a good explanation under the title Understanding Glycaemic index.
8. Cut down on salt and sweeteners.
9. What to drink. Under this there are the following titles: Clean water, coffee and tea, alcohol. Under alcohol it is quote that Cancer Research UK say that alcohol increases the risk of liver, mouth and oesophageal cancers and that even small amounts of alcohol increase your risk of breast cancer.
10. Eat nutritious food rather than supplements.
If you are interested we can discuss the details of all this.
On page 157 there is a summary of the above factors under the heading In a Nutshell. I shall try to post this at a later date.
Have a good week everyone and wishing our American friends a happy Independence Day on July 4th and hope out Canadian friends had a good Canada Day on July 1st. I do not understand why we do not have a UK day!
Very best wishes.
Sylvia.
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Maryna, I am including all of us in my novena to St Agatha! Yes, my chemo on Friday and yours this week, along with everything else you are dealing with. What are SE's?
Sylvia, my diet has completely changed and also for the rest of the family. Organic, fresh, no sugars etc etc. already feel better for it. We have to do everything we can to make sure this goes and does not come back. It's an area I am reading a lot about at the moment so I might get that book too. Whenever I go shopping with hubby and I see lasagne, spag Bol and other processed foods in a box I joke and say "that's cancer on a plate!" Also there has been lots of research on exercise and keeping it at bay. 30 mins a day 5 days a week.
Keep strong everyone!
Marymargaret
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Hello everyone again,
I amtrying to make the thread as interesting as possible, so I am posting the details of In a nutshell, from the book by Professor Mustafa Djamgoz and Professor Jane Plant, Anti-cancer experts, Imperial College, London.
* Diet plays a key roll in the development and prevention of may cancers - it is estimated that up to one third of cancers may be attributable to poor diet.
* Prepare and cook food from scratch and avoid pre-prepared and processed foods.
* Eat organically as far as possible to avoid pesticide residues and environmental contaminants which may increase cancer risks.
* Cut down or cut out animal protein (meat, dairy and eggs) which affects our levels and mix of hormones and growth factors, modifies important enzyme activities, causes inflammation and cell proliferation and creates acid conditions in the body - creating an ideal environment for cancer.
* Stick to a varied plant-based diet which provides fibre, antioxidants and phyto-oestrogens to counteract the animal hormones that fuel cancer growth.
* Eat whole unrefined grains which help regulate blood sugar, lower insulin levels and provide cancer protective fibre and nutrients.
* Focus on eating poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats and aim to eat more foods rich in omega-3 fats and fewer those rich in omega-6 fats.
* Eat more cancer-protective fruit and vegetables and avoid taking vitamin and mineral supplements.
* Avoid refined sugars and cut down on sodium - use raw cane sugar and herbs and spices which contain chemicals with anti-cancer properties.
* Filter your water, drink tea rather than coffee and keep your alcohol intake to a minimum.
I hope you find all this useful. I urge you to read this book if you can and especially step 5.
I would be interested to hear from any of you that have changed your diet after a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
If you have been reading the newspapers this week in the UK you will have seen there has been a lot of articles about the bad effects of sugary drinks.
Recently there was an article about a possible blood test that would be able to predict cancer before it develops. I am not quite sure how this would work, but I would be interested to hear from anyone about how they interpret this article.
Wishing you all the very best.
Sylvia.
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Hello Marymargaret,
I hope all goes well with your next round of chemotherapy. You and the other Mary are doing a wonderful job about keeping us informed on what goes on with treatment today. I hope you will not suffer too many side effects.
You and your family are doing a great job of changing your diet and I am not surprised that you feel better. Keep up the good work.
Thinking of you.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia. xxxx
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Hi Sylvia
I have just read your post and thought I would respond to your concerns regarding your appointments with your consultant. I used to see my consultant every year, for the first 5 years had mammograms every year and then for the following 10 years they were carried out every other year. Since reaching 50 last year, I will now have a mammogram every 3 years. My consultant used to examine me and ask if I everything was all right and if I felt all right and that was that.
I used to be very concerned that I wasn't being scanned and I felt I wasn't being looked after properly. However, I soon realised that I needed to be displaying symptoms that the cancer had spread before anything would be done. Sometimes being scanned can cause its own problems and be very damaging, which is a reason it is not common practice to scan unnecessarily. Something I had to learn to accept and now agree with, but 15 years ago I was also extremely worried.
I stopped seeing my consultant about 9 years ago, stopped being obsessed with cancer and all of the statistics (which I was obsessed with) sort of 'forgot' about cancer, and became out of touch with developments in treatment. But I then had a minor scare and started looking on the internet again and have learned I may be triple neg (something I had not heard of until 3 weeks ago) but I was only ever tested for hormone receptor status, nothing more. I am ER Neg, my aunt was diagnosed with BC, she was about 49 at the time, my cousin (her daughter) was stage IV at diagnosis back in 1999, so can presume I have a damaged gene somewhere, but was never tested.
Having learned about tipple neg BC, I am now scheduled to see a consultant in a couple of weeks as I feel I need to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about to find out more if I can.
I hope my response helps and makes sense to you!
Hope is a great thing.
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Hello Sarahlou50,
Thank you for your very interesting post. It was very informative to read all you had to say. Congratulations on being fifteen years since your diagnosis. This will be very inspiring to everybody reading the thread.
I am not surprised that triple negative was not mentioned to you back in 1999, because in 2005 when I was diagnosed it was not mentioned either. I was just told that my receptors were not hormonal positive and so tamoxifen would not be of any use to me and that there would be no treatment after the standard treatment of chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. I was told that because it was not hormonal positive it was a poor prognosis. I did not take much notice of all this and I discovered the term triple negative by myself.
I shall have to continue the post a bit later today as I have to go out.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Sarahlou50,
I shall try to continue. I was told a bit later that I was oestrogen negative, progesterone negative and her 2 negative. I was told that being HER2- was a good thing as HER2+ receptor status was not a good thing as that was very aggressive. At the time I was surrounded by women who all had receptor positive statuses for oestrogen and progesterone, which is the most common. I do not think I was even told that the kind of breast cancer I had was invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) which is the most common. I saw from your details that you had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Given that you were young (35) when you were diagnosed, I am not surprised that you have now been told that you may be triple negative, that is ER-, PR-, HER2-.
Will you get tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 faulty genes? I think you will qualify for this given your family history. I think they can now test for other genes.
Although triple negative receptor statuses account for only about 15-20% of women, they affect mainly younger women. Most women with breast cancer are older women, especially post-menopausal ones.
What was the scare that you had?
I have not really been concerned about my regular physical check ups. After treatment I went for three-monthly check ups, alternating between my oncologist and my breast cancer consultant for about two years. This then went to six-monthly check ups. A couple of years ago I was discharged from the breast cancer consultant and since then I have been going once a year with the oncologist. She has told me she has kept me on because I got off to a rocky start with a large tumour. If all continues to go well I shall be discharged from the oncologist next May when I have my last check up.
I have been glad not to have had regular scans because of the radiation with CT scans. I had a CT scan and a bone nucleide scan on diagnosis and after treatment and none since. I do not know which country you are in but in the UK I do not think we have regular scans as they seem to have in the US. I am sure it will feel strange when I finish with the oncologist which will be ten years after diagnosis. I think we all get nervous about check ups and scans.
Please stay with us on the thread as it is a great inspiration to have someone who is fifteen years out since diagnosis. Please let us know how you get on with the consultant and if there is any way we can help let us know. There are some wonderful women and a wonderful man called Michael, whose wife died from breast cancer. He posts lots of information.
I forgot to say that I have also been having regular mammograms.
Wishing you all the very best.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi Sylvia,
Firstly hoping that all will go well with those ladies going through treatment, especially chemo. Someone said that they thought of it like a Pac man game with the chemo zooming around the body gobbling up all the badness. Just the way that I used to imagine it as the red stuff was being infused.
I had a lovely restful holiday and spent lots of time by and in the pool. It was 32 degrees by 11am and so unfortunately too hot for me to venture to Ephesus. My friends sister-in-law took us to other places and I got to look around a small village mosque where the caretaker let us - all women into the mens section. I sampled some Turkish food and spent a morning at a fruit and veg market, fabulous produce.
Since returning home, I have had an 80th party, Kerry's mother-in-law Breda which was so enjoyable with guests from, Mexico, Czech republic, South Africa,Singapore, Australia and her daughter lives and works in Afghanistan. So very multi- cultural and a warm and friendly atmosphere. Breda herself lives in a small village in Greece.
I have had 2 appointments this week, Radiology and Lymphadema. The radiology consultant was checking out the reaction that I have on the breast and has now suggested oxygen treatment and/or an infectious disease consult. He said he only has 2 of us out of the hundreds that he treats with this reaction and the other woman has lobbied him for the oxygen treatment and so he has told me to think about it too. He also asked me how they managed the mammogram with the pain and the breast lymphadema and could there be an alternative. I told him that they just say that this will hurt alot but more or less to grin and bear it. I am not sure what the alternatives are.
The Lymphadema nurse found lumps and bumps but told me not to worry as that is the lymphadema, she also suggested treating the breast reaction with gauze soaked in chamomile tea.I will try that this weekend as none of the creams have worked.
The centre is as busy as ever and I attended a course on cancer screening. It was to give us the information so that we would have some knowledge when the Outreach starts. Nothing particularly new and I did ask why I had been finished under the free cervical screening programme and the answer is because I am 60. Ironic as one factor is age and surely another the fact that I have had a cancer.
Now that the busy period is over I can get back to Tai chi and your posts are a reminder of how I should be eating. Some vegetables are coming up but others have died or bolted in the heat.
Today is wet and grey and so it will be housework and baking for me.
Sending thoughts and healing wishes to all and the strength to live every day.
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hi Sylvia & all, haven't had a chance to go through all the posts yet, just wanted to let you know that my last scan shows progression, old mets are bigger and there are new nodules visible. So I'm off Xeloda, & will start Gemzar/Cisplatin as soon as my insurance gives authorization. All abdominal organs are clean, still waiting for bone scan results. 3- is known for its ability to build resistance to chemo, and that certainly seems true for me. However, as I read on another thread, I look bad on paper, but on the outside I'm good! Am feeling strong & ready for the next step in this journey.
Going to read & catch up now, seen some good news - so happy your baby's doing well Mary Margaret!
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Hello linali (Lindsay)
It is nice to have you back on the thread. I was glad to know that you had had a good holiday in Turkey and I hope you have come back feeling very well and fit. I was interested to know that you had been to see a mosque. When I was working in Morocco I had the opportunity to go to Fez and to visit the famous mosque there. I was impressed by the simplicity of the interior compared to a lot of our churches. I hope you now feel settled back home.
What interesting reading your celebration for Breda's 80th birthday party make and, yes, it was indeed very multicultural.
I was interested to know about the possible oxygen treatment that your consultant has suggested. I cannot see that oxygen treatment could do much harm, as I have read that being given oxygen treatment is good for cancer patients. Let us know what happens.
As for the mammograms, they should not really hurt. I was told that you can ask for the nurse doing them not to squeeze so hard. I was also told that you can quote a figure from 1 to 10 for the degree of squeezing. Alternatively, why not ask to have an ultrasound instead of a mammogram? After all, when there is a possible problem on a mammogram you do get sent for an ultrasound. You could suggest it. In my experience at the hospital I think the initiative has to come from the patient. If you do not ask you do not get.
I was interested in what you had to say about lymphedema. You might like to read an article that there is in the latest issue of Vita. This is a free magazine that you can subscribe to and get it sent to you. It is well worth having it as it really is based on lots of articles and letters from breast cancer patients. I have had it ever since I was diagnosed. Have a look on their website:
http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/news/vita-magazine
I am afraid of losing this long post so I shall sign off and start another one.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello linali again,
With reference to lymphedema, I did not realise that it was still a problem with you. Does the nurse measure your arm when you go? That is how the lymphedema is diagnosed. Have you ever been given a sleeve? I know that is what they do with lots of women. Do you do the manual lymph massage? You should have been shown how to do this. I was wondering what has caused the lymphedema because my understanding is that it usually happens after removal of lymph nodes under the arm, but does not necessarily last long term.
I have been looking at the book Understanding Breast Cancer about lymphedema and it says "Lymphedema or swelling of the arm (caused by collection of fluid in the tissues after removal of or damage to lymph nodes) can follow removal of all the axillary lymph nodes (axillary clearance) or may occur if, after a sentinel node biopsy or node sampling, radiotherapy is given to the remaining lymph glands in the axilla."
Apparently, about six in every one hundred woman develop arm swelling after axillary clearance.
It looks as though you can develop lymphedema at any time after treatment, so I suppose you can be alright initially and then this can happen. The problem seems to be that once you have had lymph nodes removed the lymph is not flowing smoothly throughout the body.
I would think that physiotherapy might help, but, also, I think it is important to keep the arm affected moving by exercising it and doing the massage. In this book to which I refer often it says to take care of the skin (to me that means keep it well moisturised), regular massage, active exercise and/or wearing a sleeve or other compression garment. In the book it has in bold skin care (to maintain good skin condition and reduce the risk of infection), exercise to promote lymph flow and maintain good limb function, manual lymphatic drainage (gentle skin massage encourages lymph flow and is carried out by a trained therapist), support/compression (multi-layer lymphedema bandaging is applied to reduce the size and improve the condition of the limb to allow fitting of elastic compression garments which, when fitted correctly, control swelling and encourage lymph flow).
I hope this helps and that anyone with lymphedema problems will post to discuss it with all of us.
I am ending again for fear of losing it, and will then continue.
Best wishes
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello again linali
I do not know if chamomile tea will work but there is no harm in trying. I imagine you would have to make some tea with the actual chamomile flowers. You can buy this in natural food stores. I would imagine it would be better than tea bags. Let us know how you get on.
What kind of creams have you been trying? As a skin moisturiser I use Dead Sea spa Magic rich moisturiser. I buy it in Holland and Barrett. I find it very good for both the body and face.
I do not know what to say about the cancer screening for cervical cancer. There is a cut off point in England as well, but I would think that if you made a special request to continue with it you might be able to get it. I know that next year when, if nothing is wrong at my last check up with the oncologist, I have shall reached ten years since diagnosis and shall be discharged. I asked about what would happen with mammograms which I have at the hospital and was told that I could then request to continue with them with the mass-screening mobile unit. I shall probably decide not to continue, as I keep reading negative articles about mammograms and how they might be part of the problem due to exposure to radiation.
I am sure you will soon settle down again. Keep in touch, as your contribution is very important. Have you had any news from Bernie Ellen or Mumtobe?
Thinking of you.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Carolben
It is so nice to have you back on the thread. I was so sorry to read that your scan showed some progression with mets and I do so hope that you will soon get the go ahead from the insurance, that you will start on the Gemzar/cisplatin, and that it will do the trick. I shall be thinking of you.
It is good news that all your organs are clear and I sincerely hope you will have good news from the bone scan. We all know what an anxious time it is when we are waiting for scan results.
I was glad to read that you are feeling strong as you face the next stage on this journey. How are you dealing with all this on a daily basis? Do you have a routine? If I remember correctly you had gone back to working a bit. Are you still doing your yoga? What are you reading?
As you catch up with the posts you will see that I have been posting a lot about the latest book (2014) that I found in Waterstones bookshop. It is by Professor Mustafa Djamgoz and Professor Jane Plant, anti-cancer experts, Imperial College, London. The title is Beat Cancer - the 10 step plan to help you overcome and prevent cancer. You will certainly know Jane Plant, who first developed breast cancer in 1987. She had a mastectomy but the cancer returned four times over the next five years and each time it spread to lymph nodes near the original cancer. In 1993 she developed a secondary cancer the size of an egg in her neck, was told chemotherapy was not working and she had only two months to live. Jane, a scientist, started researching why she had contracted cancer. Briefly, she changed to an Asian type diet, the chemotherapy started to work and within six weeks it had shrunk and disappeared. She remained clear of the disease for almost twenty years until 2011 when she was again diagnosed with breast cancer. During that time she had published her book Your Life in Your Hands, which I read some years ago. In 2011 she had a large lump beneath her collar bone, a secondary tumour in the lining of her right lung and small secondary tumours throughout her right lung. She went back to her Asian type diet and by July 2012 her cancer was once again in remission. Jane had lived nearly half her adult life with breast cancer. After research she is convinced that the best of conventional medicine integrated with a good diet and life style is essential to beating cancer.
You might like to look at her website www.cancersupportinternational.com. This carries useful information about cancer.
I know you are a great reader, Carolben, so I hope you will read this book. I have posted quite a bit about Step 5, Eat to Beat Cancer, because I think this is the one we can most control.
When you have caught up with reading the posts, I would love to know what you think.
Take great care and keep in touch.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone
I hope you will all manage to have a good weekend.
Sending best wishes to the two Marys who are going through chemotherapy.
Thinking of you all.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello linali (Lindsay)
I thought you would like to know that I found that the cut off point for cervical screening in the UK is 64. I also found that for mammograms they start at age 50 and the cut off point is 69, but I think people asking to continue by special request and for specific reasons would get a test.
Best wishes.
Sylvia
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Hello everyone
I thought I would post a couple of pictures taken in the grounds of the apartment complex where I live.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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A few more pictures.
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Hi Sylvia,
Lovely photos of the gardens. I am not sure how to post them. Some of our flowers are now past their best, lupins, aquilegia and a lovely red one called strawberry poppies I think. The cosmos are flowering now but when I clear out the lupins etc the raised bed will be bare.
The lymphedema that I have took a while to diagnose and as far as I understand it will always be there. It is mainly in the breast, a little at the top of my arm and down my side. The breast looks permanently swollen and because I had pain and rawness there already no one really thought it was lymphedema .I did bring it to the attention of the doctors many times but it was the breast nurse who said that she would refer me. I had stopped physio because of the pain and so perhaps that and the late detection have affected the long term outlook.
I have manual lymphatic drainage and can do it myself, although not as proficiently as the nurse. It isn't that common for it to affect the breast and torso but another woman at the centre has it there too. She is far worse than me. Apparently if you have large breasts before treatment, both surgery and especially radiotherapy, you can be more susceptible to side effects. I was 36 H cup before surgery.
This afternoon I started to paint a card for our Christmas fund raising packs. It is very difficult to be inspired in early July. I am not a good artist -well I cannot draw figures that well. I suppose you could say that I was more of an Impressionist! or even abstract.
I have decided that I may do several Christmas decorations and place them in the shape of a tree each to be painted in the colour of a cancer , e.g pink for breast, teal ovarian, pale blue prostate etc. Or a collection of coloured snowflakes. I painted a Christmas rose in the grounds of an old local church last year. I will keep thinking but I want a theme that is relevant either to cancer or local area.
I heard from Bernie several weeks ago. She is well and enjoying her nieces' little boy.
I hope that your week will go well
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Dear Sylvia
I did enjoy looking at the lovely garden photos - what a beautiful environment to live amongst. Flowers lift the spirit I find. The Hebes look as though they are really thriving, I have some the same in my garden and they too are doing well. I have been catching up with all the posts and wish everyone going through treatment and troubles all the best, the two Mary's I am thinking if as they start the journey of chemo and the like. I am thinking of Carolben and I was sorry to learn her latest scan results were not what she was hoping for, I will be so pleased to know that she is on the new chemo to tackle the areas. It does appear that changing the drugs is the way forward when one drug becomes less effective and I m sure the new cocktail will bring good results. Thinking of you Carolben. Also thinking of Gill, not sure if I have missed it but I believe she was going back for further checkup on her underarm? Good luck Gill.
What always astounds me Sylvia is the time and care you give to each individual on this site, always responding to postings with helpful, informative advice. You really do work incredibly hard to keep this site such a tremendous source of comfort and encouragement.
Hope you have a good week ahead, Monday tomorrow again and back to work and the routine of daily living. There is so much to be grateful for in an 'ordinary life' - I am so pleased for the rhythm and structure of that ordinariness if that makes sense!
Love Norma x
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Happy day! Baby Evie came home from hospital today! Will tell you all more when I get a minute!
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hi Sylvia and everyone
Mary I'm so glad baby Evie is home there's nothing makes life worth living more than a new baby...enjoy the sleepless nights lol
Sylvia the appt I had for the 21st July I brought forward to today I just couldn't wait that long for my surgeon to come back off leave....they couldn't get a clear result from the needle biopsy so they did a core biopsy and I get the results on Friday
The surgeon I saw today I'd never seen before and he was convinced what he was feeling was a recurrence and even when the needle biopsy came back inconclusive has told me not to raise my hopes for Friday but I've got a good feelin it's going to be ok....I've been reading about fat necrosis and he did admit it was a possibility because of the surgery...the only thing that's worrying me is I had a check up with my oncologist in April and the lump mustn't of been there then or they would of found it I would of thought, anyway there's nothing I can do now but wait
Norma I'm so glad your enjoying your 'ordinary life' there's a lot to be said for ordinary..oh how I've missed it
Sylvia your apartment grounds are lovely, I've only got a little yard but I have a lot of pots and baskets to make it pretty, I love tending to my plants and flowers I find it so relaxing
Take care everyone
Gill
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jackpot - will be thinking of you this week. It must be hard to wait, but hopefully all will turn out OK for you. Keep us posted.
sylvia - your gardens are beautiful - isn't this such a colourful time of the year. I second what Normandee says about your care and attention to each one of us on this site - it is so very encouraging indeed.
marymargaret - so glad that the baby is home - that must be such a relief for you. Hope you continue to do well and are able to get some help with the children.
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Hi,
Fabulous news,Marymargaret, love to you and baby Evie.
Jackpot, will be thinking of you this week and concentrating on positive news.
Carolben, you always inspire me and make me think that all can be possible. You deserve that things will work out with the chemo.
Love to you all
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Hello everyone
I was so glad to see that you are all popping in and giving support and comfort where needed. I am going to sit down later today and reply to you all, linali (Lindsay), Normandee (Norma), jackpot (Gill), Marymargaret and adagio. Gill, I am thinking of you this day and hoping that you will get good news on Friday.
Marymargaret, it is wonderful news that you now have your baby, Evie, back home. You must be overjoyed.
I shall talk to you all later.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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