Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
Comments
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HI Sylvia and hi to everybody,
Sylvia, thank you for the thoughtful wishes for my birthday. It is this Thursday! I have been busy with errands for my wig party on Sunday, but I am also busy with alternative options. I decided to pay a visit to an alternative doctor. For some reason I have a feeling that conventional medicine totally ignores the natural medicine methods, but , on the other hands, going to an alternative doctor, I was a little surprised to hear about his plan towards my cancer treatment...
For instance, besides several herbal pills and supplements, the alternative doctor suggested me to be fasting 48 hours prior to my next chemo treatments. According to him, the bad cells will starve and the good cells will hide... anyone familiar with this approach? It seemed impossible to me to stay without food even for 24 hours ( yes for water, minerals and electrolytes). Still, it would be a challenge to me! I am not going to do it. He said it's been researched and confirmed the efficacy of the treatment. Here is the link of the doctor I went to see:
http://cancerbooksource.com/defeat-cancer-book/jue...
Of course, I called my oncologist just to ask her - and without really letting her know that I was browsing on the alternative field
, she answered a sounded " NO. This is absurd! Your body is going through a lot of stress as it is, and it does not need to be put into an extra stress". However, she is the doctor who told me not to have Turmeric, for example, in order not to interfere with my chemo regimen. I saw you guys were talking about Turmeric before, and absolutely love it!! So that explains why I am a little lost here. I am trying to do my best with natural nutrition and supplements, but I keep getting mixed messages from different type of segment ( although same type of professionals - oncologist). They don't seem to have a common ground between alternative and conventional medicine at all.I am into herbal, plants, roots, spices or anything that is natural so my body will always choose this option, if I can, but I give credit to chemotherapy and surgery as major tools on fighting cancer.
I also asked my MO about infrared sauna. I read that Saunas help fight cancer ( www.BeatCancer.org), and a friend gave me 3 sessions of 45 minutes as a gift. I called to make sure it would be ok to get the sauna, but the answer was a straight NO. The red lights are harmful just as the sun light is during chemotherapy. It can also interfere with treatment. What do you think? I decided to give the saunas to other friends as prizes on my wig party
My class of "feel good, look good" was great. I definitely left the room with the feeling that I should take advantage of the look and go dancing
I am glad the feeling had passed after a eating a good greek meal. I am trying to get a referral for a nutritionist and a physical therapist. I am sure they will help me to make some wise decisions in going forward with food balance and chemo regimen.
Well, this is all for today.
Have a good evening, girls!
Claudia
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Dear Sylvia and all
Thank you so much for your warm welcome to this lovely supportive community. I'm currently working my way ( slowly) through all the threads but still only just up to page 16 so it will take me a while yet. I have found what I've read so far really interesting and have learnt such a lot already, more in fact than from my oncologist / surgeon; it also makes me realise that I have still. Lots to learn but. I'm a great believer that knowledge is empowering
My internet connection seems to be slowing up for some reason so I will come back to the thread later
Chris
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Hello everyone,
With all the discussions we have had about green tea I thought you would be interested in the following article. entitled Focus on Green Tea.
Once again, I found it in Healthy Magazine, the sub-title of which is In Pursuit of Health and Happiness. I gave the details of this magazine in the previous posting about vitamin D.
I welcome your comments.
Best wishes
Sylvia xxxx
http://www.healthy-magazine.co.uk/6-things-didnt-k...
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Hello Claudia and Chris,
Thank you for your most interesting posts. I shall respond later on today when I have more time.
Best wishes
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
I have been going through the magazine Healthy, picking out the articles most relevant to us. If you are catching up please read what I have posted on vitamin D and green tea. I am about post RSI Relief, which is marked as a cover story, as is green tea, where it also says switch up to a better brew. I am also going to post another cover story entitled Cancer: There is good news. The new treatments changing the ways we can live with "The Big C".
I would appreciate some comments to all of this, so that I know that what I have taken the time to research is being read.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone
I am posting the article I mentioned about cancer.
Please let me know what you think.
Best wishes
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
I do hope you can read all this important information. I cannot get it much larger. You can try magnifying the page. I actually read it on line with a magnifying glass just to test it!
Best wishes.
Sylvia
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Hello Claudia,
It was nice to hear from you and I hope you a very happy birthday tomorrow. I was interested to know that you have been looking at alternative options. This is exactly what I did before I started orthodox treatment. I had a one off consultation with a nutritional and alternative doctor, Dr Hembry in Bristol. The consultation lasted for an hour and she gave me lots of sheets to read on nutrition. Most of it I was already doing, but it was still interesting. Looking back it was really the Mediterranean diet or as we now call it, the Rainbow Diet.
I also consulted a homoeopathic consultant at the Royal Bristol Hospital. My breast cancer consultant surgeon actually referred me to her and she told me she also referred other patients who were reluctant to have orthodox treatment. The name of the homoeopathic consultant was Dr Thompson and she treated a lot of breast cancer patients. I stayed with her for over five years and during my treatment she gave me homoeopathic medication at each stage. I was also prescribed by her oral Iscador (from mistletoe). She used to send reports on my appointments with her to my breast cancer consultant at the hospital. I had no problems during my cancer treatment. I think this homoeopathic treatment, the healthy diet, which included green tea, bitter apricot kernels and no dairy, must have helped in some way. I know that Dr Thompson asked if she could use my case as a successful one in the lecturing that she did on cancer.
Both Dr Hembry and Dr Thompson emphasised the fact that they thought I should have the conventional treatment, but Dr Thompson would give me her treatment in addition. This is what I did. I then started my treatment at the hospital, with six months of chemotherapy before surgery.
In my opinion there is no point in discussing alternative treatments with oncologists. They just believe in giving you their chemotherapy drugs. I never discussed with mine anything I was taking. I just made up my own mind.
It was somewhat different with the breast cancer consultant surgeon. She even told me about the Penny Brohn Centre/Clinic, also in Bristol, where they were treating breast cancer patients with Pycnogenol (from pine bark). It is an immune booster that I took regularly throughout my treatment.
At the very beginning, when I was first diagnosed, I also consulted a well known herbalist, whom I read about in icon magazine, the magazine that Chris Woollams of Cancer Active started. I took wormwood tablets and the Chinese well known immune boosting herb, astragalus.
I believe that integrated treatment is the way to go for the moment.
Perhaps you would like to tell us what kind of pills and supplements your alternative doctor suggested. You need to be careful what you are taking and only see reputable doctors. You mentioned fasting. I am not a doctor, but I would think that fasting for 48 hours before chemotherapy treatment would not be a good idea. Chemotherapy makes you feel very weak, so I am wondering how a patient would feel after that. In normal circumstances, fasting is supposed to be good for you, but 48 hours seems a lot. I have never fasted and my body always needs regular meals. It will be interesting to see whether anyone posts about what your alternative doctor says. I do not blame you for not trying it. I was always told to have some breakfast before chemotherapy and I had something simple like whole wheat toast with hard boiled eggs or scrambled eggs. I always had some fresh berries, especially blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I found a banana, not too ripe, to be very useful as well.
Thank you for the link, which I shall have a look at tomorrow.
What kind of herbal plants, roots and spices are you taking?
I agree that for the moment the standard tools of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are what we have to accept to bring us into a state of no evidence of disease, although we do hear many stories of people who survive without standard treatment. I do not know how this works, but I do believe that some people go into spontaneous remission.
I do not know anything about infra-red sauna, but again I think oncologists will stick to the treatment they are trained to deliver. I shall certainly have a look at that link.
If anyone knows anything about saunas fighting cancer, please let us know. It is probably something to do with heat.
I was glad to know that you enjoyed your feel-good, look-good.
Let us know how you get on if you see a nutritionist and a physical therapist. I know that at my hospital when I was going through treatment the charity FORCE, in the hospital grounds, offered complementary therapy, reflexology and counselling. They did things such as aroma therapy, and counselling.
If I were you, as a young woman, I would get a DEXA scan to see the state of your bones before treatment, as cancer treatment can damage the bones causing osteopenia or osteoporosis. After treatment get it done again so that you can see if there has been any damage. I think this is a good idea for everyone, before treatment, as well as an ECG before and after treatment.
That is about all for today. Take care.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Chris,
I have run out of time this evening. I shall talk to you tomorrow.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi, Claudia,
Happy birthday today!!
I am very interested in your story about seeing the alternative therapy doc. I skimmed the article you posted, and was quite impressed. I can understand you not wanting to fast for 48 hours before treatment; that would be very hard for me too, as I get rather dizzy and weak if I go many hours without food.
In my treatment story, I found that I was not taking in enough protein and probably not enough food in general. I was already slim, and lost another 12 pounds. When I found my breast lump, my husband was also ill, he was seeing a hematologist/oncologist for a blood issue. I showed this doc my lump, and I was off to the races. Mammogram, biopsy etc. I wish I had taken more time and checked out where to go for the best care. I was in such a panic, and not only for myself but for my husband, that I took the path of least resistance and did the chemo and cancer care right there close to home. Fast forward 2 1/2 years, I am considered cancer-free, I suppose. But because of the neuropathy caused by the taxotere I am very different physically from the woman I used to be. My oncologist preferred no supplements of any kind to be taken during chemo, I was given "ensure" to drink which is full of dairy and sugar and tasted nasty on top of it. I didn't ask many questions, I researched just enough to know that I was taking the regimen of chemo that seemed to be prevalent care for TNBC patients. When I told the oncologist after my first dose of chemo, which put me in the hospital, that my feet were tingling and swollen, he said, "Oh, that's neuropathy, but it will go away when you finish the treatment." I wish there had been more of this "Chemosensitivity Testing", at that time; it's possible that I was given the doses of drugs that damaged my nerves for no reason. I will never know, it's all hindsight at this point. I certainly hope that sensitivity testing will become common practice in the future.
I greatly admire that you are taking the time to research and learn before you jump into treatment. Sylvia did that also, and she has had great results.
I know that we are supposed to stay out of sun during the chemo, because it makes us more sensitive to sunlight and prone to burning, thus I suppose the infrared sauna would have the same effect. I am glad you enjoyed the "look good, feel better" program; that was offered at my treatment center once a week but I didn't go for one reason or another. I expected the hair loss, I wasn't prepared for losing all eyebrows and lashes. This class would have been helpful with make-up for that, and you may find that so too. As for wigs, I had a very nice one that my husband liked better than my real hair! I also had one from the American Cancer Society that was completely different, and I liked changing them up for different looks.
It is too bad we don't really learn all this stuff before we need it, but I don't think any of us even give it much of a thought because we think it can't happen to us. For myself, I was so attuned to learning about all my husband's illnesses that I never gave a thought to the fact that I could get ill. My advice to all is to go to the best place you can get to, and learn all you can before jumping into treatment. Sounds like you are on the right track!
To finish up, my husband did pass away last year, he suffered from several chronic issues.
Talk to you soon,
Mary
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Hi, Sylvia,
I just wanted to pop on and let you know that Nigel Farage was in Mississippi at a Trump Rally a couple of days ago. I saw a video of his short speech, and he got rousing applause. Some of the speech was on the subject of Brexit.
And yes, I will definitely need a magnifying glass to look at the pages you posted!
Later, Mary
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Hi Sylvia, Mary and all
Sorry for my long delay. It's sometimes really hard for me to find a free time to post here. But I really never want to miss this thread.
Actually, aside from being too busy with my family and job, I also had some health complications. For more than a month, I suffered from heartburns and stomach pains that led me to have an endoscopy. Thank God it was just gastritis, which the doctor believed was mainly triggered by stress and anxiety. I don't know really know where all this stress comes from. The other complication I had was the breast songraphy which showed a mass in the place of my lumpectomy. I was scared to death. I was at work and my husband took my results to my surgeon. In fact, he wanted to make an appointment. But my surgeon believed it was nothing important and even set an appointment in six months. I also had pelvic songraphy which showed a cystic mass near my left ovary. This is what really bothers me right now. I have to wait for two months, after three menstruations to see whether it disappeares by its own or not. I hope it doesn't make any troubles for me.
My stomach is much better and I feel generally better. I hope everything goes well for all here.
Lots of love
Hanieh
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Hello Chris,
It was nice to read your post. I am so glad that we can help you through all this and I am impressed to know that you are gradually working your way through this thread and are now at page 16. Take your time doing this and try to keep up with us this end.
I would like to try to find the time to start reading back from the beginning as well. I did start doing this, but there is only so much I can fit into a day. If you find the post where I actually mentioned the homoeopathic medication that I was prescribed, please let me know as I just cannot remember what it was, except the Iscador.
I am so glad that you are finding what you read informative, as I remember when we were talking about the importance of being informed and that information was power. I think the days of a patient sitting silent in front of anyone in the medical profession are over. I think we have learned to take possession of our own bodies. There is no excuse now for being uninformed. I certainly agree with you that knowledge is empowering.
It would be so good if all the people that have passed through this thread would just stay connected to us, if only to say hello on their yearly anniversaries. I have met some truly interesting people on this thread.
Please stay in touch and let us know how you are getting on.
I hope you have a good late summer bank holiday and are able to do something nice.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Dear Sylvia
I found the articles you've posted about immunotherapy and the benefits of green tea / vit d really interesting. I don't think I'm yet at a point where I can think about the potential impact of immunotherapy because I still have so much to learn about this disease process however I do think it's really important to make sure that the immune system is as strong as it can be, especially when having chemo. I've always considered myself to have a strong immune system as I rarely get colds / infections and I put that down to the largely vegetarian diet we eat but on reflection I think there are definite improvements I can make. In particular I now think that I probably don't get near enough vitamin d. I'm a. Nurse by background but now do a more office based role which involves long stressful hours and my office has no natural light so. I often do not see daylight all day! I seriously wonder whether this has contributed to my diagnosis as I have very few other risks factors. I will also try some of the green tea
I hope everyone on the thread has a lovely relaxing bank holiday weekend
Chris
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hi Sylvia
Second doses of ac down and much better. Went in well hydrated this time and have a newblaster to give myself tomorrow. Still paranoid about a sore shoulder from a previous dislocation so went to a Korean massage before my next chemo which I probably should have done. Had some referred pain across my abdo which is settling now. First thought was my bones and liver but my logical brain keeps say chest and abdo MRI 6 weeks ago all clear so it's fine. Shoulder much better after massage but will be doing it gently in future. Wish I could get these scary thoughts out of my head! Getting less but so hard. Hope everyone is doing well.?very excited today my beautiful son was accepted into the nsw fire dept
Cheers Kath
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Hi, Hanieh,
So good to see you back, Sylvia just asked about you, and I know it has been a while. It is all right, you are a busy lady. We have quite a few new posters suddenly and there has been a lot of reading to keep up with, and responding as well.
I am sorry to hear you are having problems with masses in your ovary area, and also on your lumpectomy site. I think this would also make me very nervous, and I would not want to wait 6 months to have it looked at. Is there anyone else you can go to and have it checked out? It is possible for a young woman such as yourself to have cysts in the ovary area that come and go but for your peace of mind I would try to have the lumpectomy site also looked at sooner than 6 months. I think your husband was right to try and get you an appointment.
I have been doing okay except for the neuropathy which has spread up my legs over the last year. It makes me weak and tired after a bit of activity, I really have to plan ahead and think about how far I will have to walk when I go places. I have not fully accepted it yet, but keep thinking surely there is something I can do. I have always been very active, and loved to walk long distances. It is hard for me to believe that I have a condition which will not allow me to work or exercise myself to be better.
Have you been on any trips? I am assuming not, because you always posted lovely pictures when you would go away. How are your students, is your school work still fulfilling?
Great to hear from you, I'm sure Sylvia will be along soon!
Talk to you soon, love, Mary
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Hi Mary
Thank you so much for your reply. I'm sorry to hear you suffering from neuropathy. It is sure very hard on a lady like you , who has always been very active, to consider the length of distance you want to go in advance. I hope you get better as time goes on.
I come here every now and then and have a quick look. Sometimes, I don't go through all the posts as I can spend only 5 minutes here. This summer has been really busy.
As you said, I have not had any chance of travelling recently. I don't know whether I get the chance or not.
Lots of love
Hanieh
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Hello Hanieh,
I was so pleased to see you back on the thread. I miss you being here and I am sure that Mary does too. We have grown so fond of you.
I know that you are leading a busy life with your teaching career, looking after your daughter and your husband, but you must also look after yourself. Remember that it takes a lot of time to recover from the toxicity and trauma of cancer treatment. You must not be rushing through your days like this. It will not be doing you any good. Remember what we say in English about taking time to smell the roses. Why not look upon time spent on this thread with your friends as part of your post-treatment relaxation therapy and allow yourself times during the week when you meet up with us, in the same way that you would meet up with friends for lunch or dinner.
I was sorry to read that you have been having some health complications. You are just a young woman and this should not be happening.
I remember you were suffering from heartburn and stomach pains, and I think quite often this is caused by stress. I was sorry to read that you had to have an endoscopy, but at least it lead to a diagnosis of gastritis. Your doctor said it was caused by stress and anxiety, but more importantly did he/she have any suggestions about how to deal with this and how to relax. People have different ways of dealing with stress and anxiety. How are you trying to deal with these two things? Some people do yoga, some have acupuncture, some have one to one counselling, some look at a funny programme or read a funny book, or listen to music. I find the best way for me is to find complete silence (not easy!) or just to lie on the sofa, close my eyes and try to empty my mind. Try to think of ways to relax. Life is too short to worry and life goes by too quickly to worry about most things. Come on the thread and talk to your friends here about anything you like.
I do hope that the mass in place of your lumpectomy will not be anything serious. We all understand how frightened things like this make us feel.
I think it was quite wrong of your surgeon to say that he believed it was nothing important and shows a complete lack of understanding of and sympathy for the fear that goes through cancer patients when something bothers them. Everything should be followed up to give patients peace of mind. If I were you I would not wait six months for an appointment. You need that appointment now. Why wait six months to find out if anything is wrong?
I do hope that the cystic mass near your left ovary can be dealt with now. Two months is a long time to wait and it will not do your stress or anxiety any good. All this might be connected to the drugs you were put on and perhaps it is somehow a sign of your body trying to get back to normal. I am not a doctor but I was just wondering whether a cyst on the ovary can be aspirated in the same way as it can be aspirated on a breast.
Have your thyroid problems disappeared? I remember your consultant was going to be in the US for three months.
I have just been reading a sample chapter of a book that has really impressed me. I found the link in a post that Claudia sent and I have been absorbed this afternoon in reading that chapter. It is one chapter of fifteen chapters. The book is entitled Defeat Cancer: 15 Doctors of Integrative Medicine Tell You How. I am going to look it up over the weekend and hope to buy it. I think it is a must read for new patients and survivors. There is so much important information in that one chapter.
That is about all for now, Hanieh. Please keep in close touch.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Claudia,
I just wanted to say thank you for posting that link about the book. Did you read the sample chapter? Have you read this book?
Sending you best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Kath,
I have run out of time again, but I shall try to post and answer your post later this evening.
Love
Sylvia
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Hello to all
I am sorry i wasn't able to give some of my news and ask about yours. It has been extremely hectic here. I must admit that I sneaked in and read some of this thread every now and then, didn't have a chance to read all, but enough to say thank you about vitamin D, green tea, blueberries, Mediterranean diet and strong immune system stories and articles... all this will only help us get healthier. I have already read many of these similar stories and have been closely following this website's advice: http://foodforbreastcancer.com/articles/breast-cancer-diet-for-triple-negative-%28er--slash-pr--slash-her2-%29-patients-and-survivors
Sorry about hearing the stories regarding some of us still fighting side effects of this aggressive treatment
As for me, I finished radiotherapy and the wound has finally closed up. My blood test of yesterday revealing:
-- Total Cholesterol _1,94 g/L should be below 2,40
-- Cholesterol H.D.L _ 0,42 g/L should be above 0,65
-- Ratio total Cholesterol / H.D.L _4,6 should be below 4,50
I don't know why they watch the cholesterol from the first place?
-- As for my vitamin D _28,7 ng/mL should be above 30
I have been on Vitamin D for three to four months now.
Apart from this I am good; I do 10,000 to 30,000 steps a day. Minimum of 10km walk (6.2 miles) and run 30 min a day (trying to keep this up). Mentally I feel strong and intend to stay this way.
Will keep reading your updates and keep you all in my thoughts.
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Hello Kath,
I was glad to know that you have had your second dose of AC and that things have been much better. You did the right thing going in well hydrated for your chemotherapy. This is very important. Keep repeating, drink a lot of water, get plenty of rest and keep looking forward.
I was glad to know that yu have a Neulasta injection for tomorrow and I hope it will help with keeping up the white blood counts. You have probably been given pills to take for three days after the chemotherapy, mainly to control nausea. Try to stay relaxed and keep drinking that water.
If you have any massage during your chemotherapy, make sure it is very gentle, probably aromatherapy. If that were me I would have it done by a specialist who does aromatherapy massage for cancer patients. Lots of the cancer charities here in the UK offer this.
Feeling afraid is normal. We all go through it but try to relax and just get yourself gently through this.
Make sure you eat some healthy food. I found small meals were better than large ones. You need to eat to keep your immune system strong.
Congratulations to your son on being accepted into the NSW Fire Dept. That is a very important and worthwhile job. I can understand your excitement and how proud you must be. How old is your son? Do you have any other children? I hope you are getting support during this chemotherapy journey.
Sending you fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
I am just popping in to wish you all a good weekend. Here in the UK it is a long weekend and I heard there are long queues of traffic on the roads. We are just a small island with too high a population, and because of all the problems with terrorism people seem to be staying put in their own country. I remember the big empty roads when I was living in Canada, but I do not know what it is like now. Canada has such a small population.
Michael, have a good holiday weekend. It is the last one before Christmas.
Peterandliz, I have a feeling you might be travelling, so I hope you are having an enjoyable time.
Amanda10, make the most of the long weekend and enjoy the rest from work.
Moreshoes, how are you? I hope all is fine with you.
Foxylady, I hope you read my post and also that you are recovering from your chemotherapy and taking care as you wait for your surgery.
Claudia, Valstim52, Chris, Kath, lilyp6 (Pam), and 4everstrong. Many thanks for your contributions to the thread.
Adagio, it must be getting really near for your departure to Australia. Bon voyage.
Best wishes to you all.
Sylvia xxxx
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hi slyvia
U are right my shoulder feels heaps better but I have some referred pain now across my right abdo where she didn't even touch! So scared that something is happening now but logical brain says its muscular worse on movement and ct scan of abdo breast and abdo showed nothing there 6 Weeks ago. The oncology nurses weren't too worried but I will talk to dr on teleconference Monday.bto make sure.?try to kick my logical brain in but it's driving me batty! I should be concentrating on the chemo only and my good prognosis. The fear doesn't help.. I have two girls as well. One is a registered nurse with two beautiful boys and the other works for the new environmental protection agency.. I need to stop this hysteria and start living for them. Still so scared. Not happening all the time mow but when it does I'm absolutely paralysed
Cheers
Kath
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Hi Sylvia
Thanks a lot for your response. I thought your little delay in answering me was due to your not being happy with me.
After all, living 32 years of being completely healthy without the least consideration about health issues, now these two past years have just been passed in visiting doctors, doing different tests and ultrasounds. Fortunately, after my diagnosis, all tests have had good results. I know, all my problems just arise from my being emotionally engaged with cancer thoughts. I would never have given a second thought to some discomforts prior to my diagnosis.
I have a long history of ovarian cysts, which have always resolved by themselves without any medical intervention. I am somewhat pretty sure this will resolve too. Optimism is what has always helped me. I try not to let negative thoughts paralyse me , though they will come to me at any chance they get.
I have always felt that lump after my surgery. In fact, it has always been there. Yet , the sonographist wanted to insist on reporting it. That really scared me. My surgeon, by looking at my songraphy images decided it was nothing important. I usually have have this problem when a woman is the sonographist. They always want to find something wrong.
I try to do the same thing as you do for relaxation. My problem with my stomach has gotten easer by some antidepressants. Yet , I won't use them for too long.
Lots of love
Hanieh
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Hello Hanieh,
Thank you for your post. Of course I was not unhappy with you, just concerned and if I did not answer straight away it was just because I was busy working my way through a list of things to do.
I do understand how you must feel after being very healthy for 32 years of your life and then suddenly finding yourself in two years of being in the grasp of the medical people. You will get past this, but I think all of us will always be very sensitive and aware of anything going on in our bodies. It seems to be a fact of life of being a cancer survivor. It does get somewhat better as the years go by. Somehow we have to try to be less emotionally engaged with cancer thoughts.
If you have a long history of ovarian cysts which have always resolved themselves, then you have every reason to be optimistic this time.
It could well be that the lump you have always felt after surgery may just be the result of the surgery, but I can understand why the sonographist would point it out. If she did not and it became an issue, she could be charged with negligence. She is merely pointing it out as something she has detected, but it is not her job to say what it is. My own personal opinion about women involved with breast cancer treatment is that women would be more aware of a woman's body than a man. I have always been glad that I had an all women team when I was going through my treatment. I had a female oncologist, a female breast cancer consultant and a female cancer nurse. The nutritionist consultant I saw was female, as was the homoeopathic consultant. I felt at ease with all of them and felt they treated me with great respect.
You will get through this, Hanieh. On here we shall all help you as much as we can.
If you read some of the new posts from newly-diagnosed women, you will see that they are also experiencing fear and anxiety. Kath in Australia is having a particularly hard time with fear and she is a nurse.
How are you getting on in your new work as a teacher inspector? Are you still doing some teaching?
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Kath,
I do hope everything will slowly get better for you.
Let us know how you get on when you have a teleconference on Monday with the oncology nurses.
You are right that you should be concentrating on getting through chemotherapy. Put all your other worries and fears away in a drawer and leave them there until you have finished chemotherapy treatment.
I was interested to know that you have two daughters as well as your son. They are all doing very useful jobs. I do hope they are giving you all the help and support that they can. This is very important, but sometimes difficult, as unless you have had cancer, you can have no idea of the psychological, not to mention physical effects of cancer treatment.
Try to switch off cancer by enjoying life with your three children and your grandchildren.
Sending you fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
I was wondering whether you read the article in the Guardian newspaper or on line this week about the connection between HRT and breast cancer. It is finally being admitted that the risk of breast cancer is greatly increased in those who have HRT to relieve menopausal symptoms etc. It seems to be in particular when a woman has the combination pill for HRT. The link is:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/aug/23/combined-hrt-increases-breast-cancer-risk-nearly-300
Another factor in breast cancer risk, which we have also discussed on this thread, is that of breast cancer developing in people who work during the night. I was talking to someone who has metastatic breast cancer, which came back after fifteen years and she was telling me how she thought her breast cancer had been caused by having worked most of her career on night shifts. It is all to do with exposure to artificial light when in a natural state you should be sleeping in the dark and allowing for melatonin to form. I am sure you can find information about this on line.
One link I have found is:
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/73/topics...
Best wishes.
Sylvia
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hello all instead of vacation in hospital. mild stroke. my daughter is typing for me.
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Hello Valstim52,
I was so sorry to read that you were in hospital having had a stroke. On behalf of all your friends on this thread and me I would like to say that we are thinking of you and hoping you will make a good recovery.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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