Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
Comments
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Hello again, Dulcie
I was just thinking back, again, to when I was going through all this and I remembered something that I thought might be important. On the Monday, before I was discharged, a special dressing was put where I had had the surgery. This was obviously waterproof and enabled me to have showers and just warm gentle showers. I was told that my breast cancer consultant surgeon would deal with the dressing when I saw her on the Friday. As far as I remember was removed on the Friday and another was not put on.
I think my oncologist also arrived and I was told I had an excellent pathology report and there was no visible sign of cancer.
After that, there was quite a wait for the radiotherapy. I had my surgery on May 17th, so I would have come home on the 22nd. It was probably the last week of June that I started my three weeks of radiotherapy with boosters.
I hope all this helps you.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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Hello Sylvia i have just sent you a PM ..i don't mind at all if you 'share' this with the forum...of course there is a lot more...that has been going on since!
Dulcie xxxx
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Hello Dulcie
Thank you for your PM that I read with great interest. I have read it carefully and I hope I have understood it all.I can understand why you decided to go for a private consultation and I have been looking up the chain of private hospitals in question. From my own experience I know that when you have a medical problem the usual procedure appears to be that your GP is your first port of call. What I do not know is whether this is the procedure if you have private insurance. I can only speak from my own experience. I discovered a lump in my right breast at the beginning of 2005, but probably out of fear delayed doing anything about it for many months. I strongly advise anyone reading this thread not to do this. I then decided to see my GP because the lump was growing and in my mind I knew it was breast cancer. At my surgery I did not see my usual GP as he was male and I did not feel comfortable with this. Instead I saw a regular female doctor at the surgery but one with whom for some reason patients could not register. She examined me and said she thought I had breast cancer but had to refer me to the hospital and that I would have to wait at least two weeks. She was rather off hand with me because she asked me about mammogram results and I told her I had not been having mammograms because I had heard so many negative things about them and did not want to subject myself to radiation.
I decided then and there to go for a private consultation and asked this GP what the procedure was. She phoned the breast consultant at a private hospital and within a matter of hours I was seeing a private consultant. She examined my breast, did a fine needle aspiration and said she was certain that I had breast cancer but had to prove it. She told me she worked also in the nearby NHS hospital and could see me there the next day at her clinic for a mammogram and an ultrasound with a biopsy. She said I could have all needed treatment under the NHS and that she would be my consultant and surgeon. I just paid the fee for a consultation. Next day I went for the rest and was formally diagnosed with cancer.
It looks as though you may have upset the GP by not going through him.
The rest of what happened seems very complicated but what would seem to be wrong is the three month delay in getting a letter to you about what is going on and I feel that you had a reason to lodge a formal complaint. I also feel that it was not right to do a fine needle aspiration without spraying anaesthetic to numb the area.
Am I correct in assuming that you have now had to leave your surgery, you and your husband? I know this can happen and that in today's medical set up in this country we have to be very careful what we say and do. I can only speak for myself but I know that I would speak up and say my piece whatever the consequences. What do you intend to do now?
I can only speak for myself again, but I think I would concentrate on getting myself fully recovered from my surgery and making sure that I have an appointment to get myself checked out at the hospital to make sure breast scar is healing and what the pathology report says. I would also get myself registered with a new GP.
I would probably try to seek legal advise if I thought I could get anywhere. I would probably seek advice from my local Citizens Advice Bureau and take it from there. We do see advertisements about legal help on a no win no fee basis, but I have no experience of this.
I can say that the wife of one of my cousins was diagnosed with hormonal breast cancer not long after I was diagnosed with TNBC. Because they had insurance she went privately and had surgery at a private hospital. After surgery whatever had happened she was not healing and this went on for quite a time. Finally she had to go under anaesthetic to find out what was wrong and it was revealed that a swab had been left in her body during surgery. I am sure she must have taken action but I do not know what the result was. This just goes to show that mistakes are made whether you go privately or under the NHS.
Even if it goes against the grain, if it were me I would want to get over my surgery, finish chemotherapy if possible and have radiotherapy and then try to put the whole thing behind me and get on with my life.
I hope this has helped. I was wondering what is happening with your husband.
Heartfelt sympathy, Sylvia XXXX
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Hello everyone
I have finally found the time this Monday evening to post some information that I read in the Your Health section of the Daily Express. This is all about a famous portrait photographer going back forty-five years and her experience with breast cancer. Her name is Gemma Levine and she was interviewed by Cheryl Stonehouse. She has photographed famous people such as Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher and Richard Branson. Her latest book is entitled "Go with the flow" and the pictures are not ones that would be recognised by all. She has gathered together in this book the small band of professional people who together can transform the most dreaded of diseases into a journey of hope.She talks about the emotional stress of a cancer diagnosis and its treatment and how this makes it difficult to remember all the information she was given during her journey. She has tried to put it together in this book.
She mentions the support that she has had from her GP during the two years since her diagnosis. I feel that it is important to mention this, because your GP is usually your first port of call and support from him or her is extremely important.
Like most of us, she had surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and she points out the importance of the advice she got from a nutritionist whom she consulted. I think we all know the importance of eating as healthily as we can, especially during chemotherapy, to enable our body to sustain its powers of healing. We have to eat even if we are feeling nauseous and it is perhaps the last thing we want to do.
She spoke to mental health professionals to obtain important insights in how to keep her mind healthy, even when it is experiencing anxiety and fear from the seriousness of a breast cancer diagnosis.
In the article, she mentions that her biggest fear was the thought of losing her hair during chemotherapy. I am sure that all of us can identify with that fear. I know I can and it was certainly my biggest fear. I did not think that I could cope with watching my hair fall out and being bald for months on end. This lady took advice and was able to cope with the Paxman cold cap that can be worn during treatment and reduces scalp temperature, thus preventing the chemicals from killing hair follicles. I remember mentioning this to my own oncologist and she told me she was against this because of fear of infection. Remember that was seven years ago and I think cold caps are more acceptable now. This lady did not lose her hair, just the curl. She found this very morale-boosting.
During her treatment she relates how she was able to talk to and help another woman patient who was resisting treatment. I think this is extremely important and it is what this thread is all about. It is here to help other women newly diagnosed and afraid and in shock. It is here to show that we have been through the treatment and that they can get through it.
She points out that this new book is not only about information on the people involved in cancer care, but also about the machines that are involved in that care. She mentions the aeroplane style chemotherapy chairs and the massive radiotherapy machines. I remember doing the same kind of thing earlier on in this thread. If you have an idea of what to expect when you walk into a chemotherapy ward, or a radiotherapy room, it is a lot less frightening and intimidating.
She mentions the importance of physical exercise for anyone going through treatment. She says that exercise stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and that aids healing. I think we all know that we have to be physically active in our rehabilitation back to good health. Obviously, we can only do what our fatigue and exhaustion allows us to do during treatment. When we go through breast cancer treatment we spend a lot of time sitting down or lying down, so in between it is important to have some physical activity.
If you are interested in this book, you can Google it and get all the information you want. The price quoted here is £15 with free delivery in the UK. You can also order it through the Express Bookshop.
I think it is important to mention that all royalties from this book go to Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres (www.maggiescentres.org). I am sure if you are in the UK you will have heard of this charity. A few years ago two of my nieces did a night walk through London to raise money for this charity.
If you want to read this article you might try online. There are a few tips offered about simple remedies during treatment, such as aqueous cream BP for dry skin. I found it very useful to wash in it. She used a lash repair serum from Boots to bring back her eyelashes. She recommends being patient about getting your concentration back. She recommends also going local to get personal attention for things such as bras, prosthesis and clothing.
The weather here in Devon continues to be awful. We had an incredible amount of rain during the weekend, but Exmouth escaped the worst. I think we are all longing for some summer weather but I am wondering whether it will ever come.
It would be nice to have some posts and know that people are reading this information and finding it useful.
This evening I looked at the triple negative section of this forum in detail and was surprised to find that after page one you are back in May with threads that have remained dormant since then. There are 45 pages for triple negatives and page 45 has posts dormant since 2007. I was wondering whether any of you actually read these posts or whether you just go through the active topics posted within the last few days.
Wishing you all the best.
Sylvia0 -
Hello Sylvia
WHAT IS GOING ON??
I tried to post here and lost it twice......then posted to tell you what happened - and the post appeared on a completely different thread!!
I will try again tomorrow (gremlins permitting)
With love,
Sam x
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Good morning, sorry haven't been in touch for a while but thinking of you all.
I have been so busy, my niece and her boyfriend have bought a mobile home and are setting up in my field next to the cottage. Have been living in a pile of mud as the groundwork is being done. I have never done so much cleaning in my life.
They have been trying to keep their heads above water for a while (the recession has hit everyone here). She finally admitted that they couldn't cope so this was the best solution. In time we will extend the cottage to accommodate us all.
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Hello sam52
I have just discovered your post. I am so sorry that your posts appeared on another thread. I would be grateful if you could let me know which thread it is on so that I can read it, if you have not deleted it.
Your posts are always so well informed and useful. You are a great contributor to this thread. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hoping all is well.
Love
Sylvia
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Hello Bernie
Thank you for your post. It was so good to hear from you. Thank you for your cheerful cartoon and I do love the words (although they could never apply to me!!).How kind you are to come to the rescue of your niece and her boyfriend. I am sure they will be able to make a comfortable home next to you. I can just imagine how busy you have been in all that mud.
I hope you are looking after yourself and that things are fine with you.
Please pop in whenever you can or whenever you feel like it. You belong to that special group of five that went through treatment together. I do not know what has happened to Maria_Malta. Perhaps we shall hear from her when her school term finishes. The three American ladies all seem to be fine. Mccrimmon324 (Heather) is busy settling down back home and has not posted on this thread in a while. Chritina321 and bak94 pop in from time to time.
Keep well. Best wishes.
Sylvia0 -
Good morning, Sylvia and all! I have been so busy and have had little time to post, but I thank you for the Fourth of July greeting! My daughter, who works with me in my small business, has been on a sightseeing trip since last Tuesday so I have been working non-stop. She went to Chicago, then Niagra Falls and into Canada to Toronto. Now she is in New York City, a city she loves so much. I took her there as a child and she has returned several times in adulthood.
I have put off studies for now just because I don't have time to even think about it. I did find a masters of social work program that can be accomplished online. I will have to take the graduate school examination first though, and I need to study for that. My business is so busy, particularly since fortunately we managed to pick up two new customers during my first chemo which has been a long held goal. Formerly I was doing too much work for one customer and that is not a very secure position.
I am hoping to get away to the beach in September for a week. I dream of pelicans, dolphins, sand, and endless horizons.
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Hello christina1961
Thank you for your post. I am always glad to hear from you. I know that you lead a busy life so I do understand that you do not have much time for posting.It sounds as though your daughter must be having a wonderful time on her sightseeing trip. I have never been to Chicago but have been to New York City. I went there on a business trip with my husband when we lived in Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. It is a city that pulsates with life. I went to Niagara Falls several times as well and saw the falls both from the American side and the Canadian side. I saw the falls in winter as well as summer and I shall never forget the sight of them and the impression they made on me. I did not see much of Toronto but I think it is another one of those cities that people find exciting. I expect you will be glad to have her back with you.
I can understand that you have put off your studies for a while as you just do not have the time to study. I am sure you will return sometime.
In these difficult times in the UK and the US, I am glad that you have a business that is thriving.
It is so good to know that you have put cancer in a little corner somewhere and are getting on with your life.
I do hope you manage to get away to the beach for a weeks holiday in September. We all need breaks to recharge our batteries and we who have been through breast cancer treatment must always take that bit of extra care of ourselves.
Pop in to see us and keep well.
Very best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hi Sylvia,
I have had an up and down week, today I received a letter to inform me that my application for invalidity was refused. Panicked for a while but made some phone calls and have received so much support. Mary at the centre rang my gp to insist that he give me a supportive letter.
I am looking after my wonderful grandson this week end and need to be upbeat, positive and full of energy to enjoy him. He is really starting to use words properly and I had a great chat with him tonight.
We have put together the pain survey and Mary is running it by some consultants that she knows. I will give you the link when it is sorted and I would value your opinion.
I have my 2yr mammo on Wednesday, so fingers crossed that all is ok. We booked our tickets to the US to visit my sister-in-law in September. I wanted to wait until after the mammo but there was a seat sale with aer lingus that finished on Tuesday.
The centre is having a combination 4th and 14th July, Independence and Bastille day,barbecue on Saturday but I shall miss it. It will be American barbecued meats and potato salad and slaw with French wine! It will be a fun and happy occasion but a little sad as one of the original "survivors"... Noreen passed away last Saturday. She will be missed.
Wishing all those going through treatment peace and strength .
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Linali, best wishes for wenesday - I'll be thinking of you.
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Hello linali
Thank you for your post. I do hope that you will be able to obtain your invalidity benefit and I am so glad that you have your friend Mary to help you get support. If your GP will write a letter of support, I am sure that will go a long way.I am sure that you will have a happy weekend with your grandson and that he will make you laugh a lot. I am sure you will need lots of energy as well. Children are so interesting when they begin to talk.
I shall be very interested to read the pain survey and I am sure I shall learn a lot from it.
I shall be thinking of you on Wednesday when you go for your two year mammogram and hoping that all will be fine. It is good that you have your grandson with you as he will keep you busy and stop you thinking about mammograms.
I do hope you will have a good holiday in the US in September. That will give you something to look forward to and September is not that far away. Where exactly are you going in the US?
It sounds as though your centre is a really good place for you to go. What a good idea to celebrate the 4th and 14th of July. Both countries celebrate these events in great style and so they should. They were both events that freed ordinary people from tyranny. I do love the national anthems of these two countries, the Star Spangled Banner and the Marseillaise. I am not so keen on the British national anthem and think it should be changed. I hope the weather will be fine for the celebration. It is such a pity that you have to miss it.
I was so sorry to hear that one of your friends, Noreen, had died last Saturday. How long had she survived breast cancer? It is sad events like these that worry us all.
It has been a busy week here for me in Exmouth. It was the AGM for the residential complex in which I live, and, as one of the volunteer directors, there is a lot of work involved in preparing the agenda, holding the meeting and then doing the minutes. We have also been busy repainting our apartment and doing some gardening in the grounds.
I have just received the latest e-mail from CANCERactive and have read it carefully. I shall be posting information about it in the next few days.
Wishing you all the best.
Sylvia0 -
Hello everyone
I do so hope you have had a reasonable week with more highs than lows.Dulcie - I do hope things have settled down a bit for you and that you are making good progress after surgery and putting that awful experience in hospital behind you. Do keep us posted about what is happening to you.
Karen_Sheffield - I know you were having a bad time with chemotherapy and that you had to stop treatment. I hope you are making progress and building up your strength.
Karen3 - I was wondering how you were and hoping that you got good results from your blood test and endoscopy.
sam52 - I hope you have had a good week and will have a good weekend. It is not long to go before the summer holiday now. I hope to hear from you soon.
Lint_Roller_Derby (Betty) - I hope you are well and enjoying the summer in Florida. Here in England I think summer has forgotten us. We seem to be beating all the records with rain and low temperatures. I think people are getting desperate for a bit of sunshine. Olympic Games mania seems to have set in among the politicians and organisers, but not with the general public. They seem to be preparing London as if we are about to go to war.
Best wishes to all of you.
Sylvia0 -
Hello everyone,
I have just checked in to see if there were any posts and there were not so I am assuming that all of you who have finished treatment are fine and getting on with your lives with no major problems.
As for those of you going through treatment I hope you are having a restful and relaxing weekend.
I have just reieved the latest newsletter from Cancer Active and have found a lot of interesting information. I shall post some of it later, but am wondering whether you have perhaps signed up to it yourselves and do not need the information. Perhaps you can let me know.
There seems to be a lot of new people being diagnosed with TNBC on the Calling all TNS, mainly Americans. I am wondering what is causing this. Of course, I have to remember that the US has a much bigger population than the UK.
Best Wishes, Sylvia.
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Hello everyone
I have just been having a look at some of the TNBC pages on Facebook, as I think that Facebook may be a way of life for a lot of the younger people. I did not find very much that I found in depth and was wondering what you think of the pages. Do you look at the TNBC Foundation site and have you found anything new or revealing on it?
I am having a strange day here. I was going to do a lot of reading but it has not turned out like that. I have had a long conversation and a very meaningful one with a good friend of mine who is a nurse and whom I have not seen in a while. I seem to be in a very contemplative mood, thinking a lot about life, about the state of the NHS, education and this old country of ours. I have been wondering where I should direct my life.
Enough contemplation for today.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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Hi Bernie ellen,
Thanks for your thoughts . That mammo waiting room can be a lonely place with no-one quite sure why each other is there.
Love all of your posts and pics of the dogs. Just been looking after my grandson in wexford and my daughters hens and ducks and dogs.
Marley is a cross sheepdog/ water spaniel? adopted after her owner didnt want her when she was recovering from road accident that smashed her hip. Zak is a black staffie, the apple of my daughters eye and a real character. He and Oskar are becoming great pals,they're both fearless and curious.
Just off to collect luna the cat from cattery.
Hoping the weather here in Ireland improves, none of my veg are doing well!
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Hi Sylvia,
Tired but happy after the weekend with Oskar. He is a real little man and gets so excited when he sees trucks, lorries and any large modes of transport. He waves and shouts hello... we got lots of beeps from a large yellow van yesterday.
Noreen was on her 3rd re-occurrance, 2 breast and then bone and other areas. She had been on maintenance chemo and lived her life to the full!
We have planned to fly into Charlotte and visit Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington.Unfortunately we do not know if it will go ahead even though we have booked flights. My husbands brother in Dublin has been taken into hospital with what looks like advanced lung cancer and lesions in the brain. We will know more on Tuesday. He had been going to GP but he was ignored and didn't receive treatment until he became seriously ill. His father and sister both passed away from cancer. He has been a single dad to his 4 daughters for years and they will need all the support they can get, the youngest is 16. So our plans are on hold, we have the flights booked but will do nothing more.
It is so tough on my husband as he has taken on all the responsibility of Leigh and also Kerry's financial situation since my diagnosis. He tells me not to worry about all the money stuff that we will manage, I think that it is time for me to take some back. Not a great week for his birthday, he will spend some of it on the day with me at my mammo appt and then later this week go to Dublin.
I hope that the pain survey will be helpful and that we will be able to activate it soon. I am not sure what questions are in the final survey as I gave my suggestions to Mary and her volunteer admin staff.
Have to go to collect the cat and ITS RAINING AGAIN. Lots of dead heading to be done and ground too wet to plant stuff.
Holding my breath till after Wednesday.
Healing wishes to everyone
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Hello linali
Thank you for your post. Tired but happy sounds like a good mood to be in. Your Oskar sounds like a real bundle of joy. How old is he? I wonder why all little boys seem so mad on all modes of transport. I bet he is keeping a lot of truck drivers happy.It is very sad about your friend, Noreen. What a journey she went on with breast cancer. It seems as though you can go on for a long time with this disease and hopefully live life quite normally. I would think that maintenance chemotherapy, although it can keep you alive for many years, must take a great toll on your body and greatly weaken your immune system. We have to give thanks for every day that we have this treatment.
I seem to be surrounded by people with breast cancer or who have been through it and other kinds of cancer and somehow keep on surviving. One of my neighbours has been in remission from hormonal breast cancer for about eleven years and is now taking nothing and having no visits to the hospital. She has managed to survive even though she had only a couple of chemotherapy sessions and had to stop them because she was so ill. I have another neighbour in remission from triple positive breast cancer and not taking anything at the moment. In the area I know two women in six year remission and two year remission from hormonal breast cancer. They had lumpectomies and radiotherapy and must still be taking anti-hormonals. A friend of mine was telling me about a young woman in her thirties with triple positive who had a baby during treatment and that baby is now four. The woman is on maintenance Herceptin, I think.
It is high time that a way should be found to stop this nasty disease in its tracks.
I was sorry to hear that you may not make your trip to the US. It sounds as though you had planned to visit some interesting states. I was so sorry to hear about your husband's brother in Dublin, and the fact that he is in hospital with what looks like advanced lung cancer and lesions in the brain. They say it never rains but it pours. Please let us know what happens on Tuesday.
It is so worrying that we hear so much about GPs not detecting cancers in their patients. It makes me wonder how much knowledge GPs really have and then you have all this business here about saving money and not making referrals to specialists. I think with all the information on the internet and all the good medical books available, that we can probably self-diagnose. If GPs are just taking blood tests, they will pick up only on the thing they are testing for. I tried to explain this to my uncle, who will be 92 on August 30th, and was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer (mesothelioma) a few months ago. With your husband's brother it looks as though it is yet another case of negligence. With his father and sister having died from cancer, I think his GP should have been extra vigilant. I think in today's world you have to be "pushy" with the medical people and demand what you think you should have. All of this will be a terrible shock to his daughters and they will need a lot of support.
You husband must be going through a really bad time at the moment and with the family history your husband is very susceptible and needs to take care of himself. This is a stressful time for all of you and you all need to take extra special care. You and your husband need to support each other. I know money worries can have a terrible effect on people's health, physically and psychologically, but somehow you manage to get through. Concentrate on each other. It is so unfair that a few people have far too much money and others do not have enough for the basics.
Do what you can to support your husband, because he has been there for you throughout your treatment. I do hope all will go well on Wednesday with your mammogram. You should be given the results straight-away. At least that is what happened to me for my last mammogram. I was told straight-away that everything was normal. At least like that you do not have to wait for a letter to come in the post.
I do hope that your husband will manage to have some happy time on his birthday. I remember that one of my check ups with my breast cancer consultant fell on January 4th, which is my husband's birthday. Please wish your husband all the best from everyone on the thread.
I look forward to the results of your pain survey.
If it is any consolation it does not stop raining here either. It has been pouring down with rain this morning and we have had nothing but rain for about three months. There has been flooding in some streets in Exmouth. Yesterday was St. Swithin's day and it rained. Legend has it that if it rains on St. Swithin's day it will rain for forty days. That will take us to the end of August. Perhaps September will be nice when the children have to go back to school!!!
I shall be thinking of you on Wednesday.
I looked up on the internet information about an organisation called "Action against Medical Accidents" and picked up on the following statistic. In 2000 the Department of Health estimated that there were approximately 850,000 medical accidents in English hospitals each year!
I find that horrendous.
I was reading an interesting thread on here yesterday, where someone was trying to get information about medical services in the world in general, and was asking whether some countries had better cancer treatment than others. If anybody has information on this, please post. I think that all treatment is probably based on surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, with medication if necessary and possible and various screening. However, I think there is probably a lot of politics behind what becomes available to the patient. For example, in this country, a lot of treatment depends, it seems, on what is "cost-effective" and where you happen to live in the country. That is not acceptable.
Fond thoughts are coming your way.
Best wishes.
Sylvia0 -
Linali, thinking of you and your husband.
Life is so unfair, my niece's best friend has just been told that her stepdaughter has cancer in the bone with secondarys to the lungs, she is only 11. Her brother in-law died from the cursed disease two weeks ago.
Sometimes the words are not enough.
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Hello BernieEllen
I have just read your post and do appreciate your kind support of linali. She is going through a very difficult period.I was so sorry to hear about the stepdaughter of your niece's best friend. How tragic for this to happen to an eleven year old child. Are the experts going to be able to treat her? I understand that primary bone cancer is quite rare. I was so sorry to hear about the death of her brother-in-law from cancer as well.
I just feel that this disease is out of control and that progress in preventing it is too slow and current treatment too harsh. One of my friends has recently told me that one of her neighbours died after having breast cancer and then having spread which led to her being on permanent doses of chemotherapy. She died from pneumonia and that would most certainly have been caused by too much chemotherapy and suppression of the immune system. One of the first things I was told on diagnosis was to get vaccinated against pneumonia and also the flu bug. The pneumonia vaccination apparently lasts for life. For the newly diagnosed, if I were them, I would ask about vaccinations.
As you say, Bernie, sometimes words are not enough.
I do hope you are keeping well.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello everyone
I thought I would post a few bits of information from the latest CANCERactive newsletter.1 Yet another study links night shift work to breast cancer.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3225
2 Could breast cancer be linked to IVF?
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3230
3 Melatonin and cancer prevention.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=1164
4 PSA tests do significantly more harm than good.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3227
5 Green Tea and Cancer.
I found the numerous pages on the benefits of green tea drinking very interesting. I have been drinking Clipper decaffeinated green tea for seven years, about four to five mugs a day. There is mention here of studies supporting claims that it can prevent cancer, fight cancer and prevent spread. There is a lot of information about EGCG, a highly active polyphenol.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=1007&Title=Green Tea
6 Carotenoids can stop breast cancer returning.
7 12 ways to reduce your oestrogen levels.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=1285
8 New theory of cancer.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=902&Title=New Theory of Cancer
9 The ability of foods to protect and correct.
I found this information particularly interesting. At least when it comes to our food we do have control to a certain extent.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3205
10 Mental state, stress and cancer.This is something about which we have had quite a few discussions on the thread. I tend to think there is a connection between stress and the development of breast and other cancers.
I believe that your mind controls your health. In the article it states that depressed people can have blood oxygen levels 30% lower than the norm and it is known that low oxygen increases the risk of cancer. Is there any reason to say more?
The article goes on to talk about hormone levels and how they need to be balanced and how they can become unbalanced and you can have cortisol levels that are too high through stress and melatonin levels that are too low because you are not sleeping properly.
Your hormones become imbalanced and as a result other hormones such as insulin, oestrogen and IGF1 increase. These hormones cause an increase of inflammation and possibly an increased risk of cancer. I think we have all read about the connection between inflammation and development of cancer.
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=1262&Title=Mental State and cancer
I hope you will find this information helpful.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hi Sylvia
Thank you for all those useful links. I think the food and stress links are particularly interesting. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Hope everyone is well, love and hugs Caroline x0 -
Hello Iz_and_Lys_Mum (Caroline)
Thank you for popping in to say hello. It was nice to hear from you and nice to know that you found the links useful.
I spend a lot of time reading and researching everything carefully, as I feel it is important to get as much information as possible on the threads, so that a diagnosis of cancer and its treatment becomes less frightening. I think it is also important to get tips out as well, so that people can help themselves.
Like you, I am very interested in the connection between nutrition and stress and the development of breast cancer.
There is something seriously wrong when so many of us are developing breast cancer and other cancers.
Please keep viewing and pop in whenever you like. If you have any friends in the UK or elsewhere in need of comfort or support, let them know about this thread.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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Good evening Sylvia and all you ladies..
Sylvia i do agree with you about how common cancer is becoming..so much so ...that some people just 'shrug' these days when it's mentioned that you have it! It's almost with some folks..like 'so what'.... which is totally shocking!!
I am so sorry to hear of the dear child with bone cancer and posters other relatives...
I read of the lung and brain..with great interest..as you know Sylvia my OH is going through tests at the moment for throat,lung thyroid and bowel..BUT he has been complaing of a permanent headache....so what i am reading..seems to confirm..my deepest suspicions...our doctor today..is a bit of a 'pussy footer' and i like it straight! She told OH if he had had an eye test..he couldn't possibly have anything going on in his brain...!!! (we had been for eye tests)
I am sorry but i am still suffering 'chemo brain' and i do not retain much at all..or remember what i said or did ..even a minute or two earlier..
I would like some advice about myself please...i am not coping with us both very well right now!
I have lung nodules that where found about 3 months ago...now on Friday at my important meeting with my surgeon..he is probably going to now suggest radiation on my mx site...my problem is..firstly i realise this can cause heart problems ( i already have atrial fibrilation)..the thought of a large session of rads...whilst these lung nodules are probably growing away in the lungs...Would it be a good idea to have the lungs looked at first..this i am terrified about! I have been reading a young lady's blog about my type of cancer and she says once it's lung mets...it's a death sentence! This young lady appears to be very well read about this cancer and i will follow her on her journey! I also have to go to have my wound site drained in the morning as i have quite a large swelling...But good news ..for OH is we have 'pestered' docs to get his test results looked..you really do have to SHOUT out loud...my faith and respect for the NHS is at an all time low..and its just a 'business' and nothing more!
Did you read about the boy who dialled 999 for water? this is not the first time i have read of patients doing this...i was so so upset for him and his family..time and time again i am reading such dreadful things...did you read that the 1st of August and onwards...is a bad time to go into hospital? for 7 days it's known as 'killer week' as the 'new' doctors are making all their mistakes...and 12,000 a year die needlessly? I am sorry everyone for this gloomy post...
Any advice would be welcome on the 'lung' thing..thank you in advance!
Dulcie xxxx
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Hi quick post to say thanks for your wishes and thoughts for tomorrow x
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thinking of you all
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Hello BernieEllen
Thank you for popping in to say Hello to all of us. It is much appreciated. Let us know how you are getting on.Kind thoughts
Sylvia0 -
Hello linali
Thank you for your post. We are all hoping that you have had good news today.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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Hello Dulcie
Thank you for your post. I do agree with what you said about people not realising how serious a cancer diagnosis is. Unless you have been diagnosed yourself, gone through the treatment, and are having to live with the knowledge that any time you can wake up and be told that you have a recurrence, a new primary or metastases. That is the reality of a cancer diagnosis. You can never really put it all behind you. I do not think there is any point in trying to explain this to people who have not had cancer. That is why threads like ours and local support groups are so important. You know that if you talk to us of your fears, of how unwell you feel during chemotherapy, your anxiety about surgery, and so on and so forth. You know we understand.I am so sorry, Dulcie, that you are going through so much. I am also so sorry to hear about the bad time that your other half is having. Please try to take one thing at a time. When the results of the tests that your OH is having come through, that will be the time to make decisions about the direction that he will go in. Let us all hope that everything will come through clear. What kind of tests is he having?
It could be that your OH is having a permanent headache caused by stress and anxiety. I must admit I cannot understand what your doctor means when she says that if you have had an eye test there cannot be anything going on in his brain. Surely, when you go for an eye test and you are told that everything is fine, that means that there is nothing wrong with your eyesight. I would have thought that the only way to find out if there is something going on in the brain would be to have a CAT scan or an MRI scan. I get the impression that MRI scans are now being used more that CAT scans. It is only an impression that I get through reading the threads. My understanding is that with an MRI scan you are not subjected to radiation as you are with a CAT scan. I had two CAT scans when diagnosed and I still have concerns about what they may have done to my body. I had one pre-treatment and one post-treatment. I feel we are given a lot of scans these days without a blink of the eye from the medical establishment. I also had two bone nucleide scans pre and post treatment and I also wonder what they did to my body.
I agree with you about wanting it straight from a doctor. I cannot see the point of pussy footing around. Sooner or later you have to face up to the truth of your situation.
I am sure your memory will improve in time. The most important thing is not to worry about it. In today's world we have so much information thrown at us on a daily basis that it is no wonder that we have memory lapses. You are also under a lot of stress with your own health problems, not to mention those of your OH.
I am so sorry that having just got through a mastectomy, you now have the worry of nodules on your lung. When you have your meeting on Friday with your surgeon listen to him very carefully and then make your own decisions.
It is usual to finish your breast cancer treatment with a certain number of weeks of radiotherapy to mop up any stray cancer cells. I am not a doctor but it seems to me it might be important to have it, especially as you did not have the full sessions of chemotherapy. With the nodules in the lung I would have thought that radiotherapy was even more important.
I had three weeks of radiotherapy with boosters and had no problems during that time. Of course, I do not know whether there was any heart damage. All I can say is that seven years on I do not appear to have any health problems, or problems with my heart. It would be useful if anyone viewing the thread could post and let us know whether they have been diagnosed with heart problems due to radiotherapy treatment. I had an ECG when I began chemotherapy an I had one four years later when I had surgery for an over-active parathyroid gland and everything was normal.
I can understand your concern about heart problems, given that you have atrial fibrillation. This is something that I would want to discuss carefully with my consultant surgeon. Remember that your consultant is there to advise you and help you but you are the one who makes the decisions about your body. I would have thought, but again I am not a doctor, that radiotherapy would help to kill the nodules in the lung. When people have lung cancer they have radiotherapy.
I would be very wary about what other people say in their blogs. We are all different and we all react differently to treatment. The people who know about cancer are the oncologists and consultant surgeons working as a team.
Do not go scaring yourself by reading other peoples blogs. If you want advice the person to speak to is a qualified medical expert.
There is a lot of treatment out there and people live a very long time, even with aggressive cancer.
I do hope that everything has gone well this morning with the draining of your wound site. I must admit that I was quite surprised to learn that you still had drains fourteen days after your surgery. My drains were clear and removed after four days. Again, I must emphasise we are all different. I have heard of people having a lot of trouble with swelling after surgery.
Do you now have the results for your OH's tests? It is true that you have to push to get results etc. You have to make yourself stand out, be informed, be confident, be polite but assertive and remember always that is our NHS that we pay for dearly and we pay for those working in it.
I do agree with you that the NHS is not what it used to be. I think it is too overloaded because of the huge increase in the population. We are the most densely populated country in Europe and I personally think we are becoming one large dustbin. People do not seem to care about anyone or anything.
I did read about the young man who dialled 999 for water. It is an absolute disgrace and I understand that the family wishes to prosecute. There is now a lack of care in the NHS. I have a friend in her fifties who is a dedicated nurse in a hospital in London and she is absolutely exhausted from all the cuts etc. I think it is always dangerous when the NHS is in the hands of a Conservative government. They do not care about ordinary people. I also read about all the accidents going on in the hospitals and how junior doctors are not being properly supervised and are left to treat patients. I have read about the dangers of being admitted to hospital at weekends, so I am not surprised that August is a bad month to be admitted. Most of the consultants will be on holiday. That is bad planning and should not be allowed.
That is about all for now. Look after yourself and look after your OH. Come and post here as much as you like if it helps with the stress and anxiety. We all understand what you are going through.
Best wishes
Sylvia0
