anyone else have pain from their biopsies 4 weeks after they were taken ? Also does anyone take Citilopram? I was started on it 2 days ago and have really bad nausea diarrhoea and feel dizzy. Is this normal ?
Sorry to hear about your pain. I was diagnosed 29th May - well officially 4th June but they told me from ultrasound on 29th may it was very likely cancer. Mine was ER+ and PR+ but they were waiting on the HER2 result which took weeks. In the meantime I had MRI and lymph nodes looked normal. I had a few week of waiting but it was due to the HER2 result. If negative I would have surgery first then Chemo and if positive it would be Chemo first then surgery. My surgeon pencilled me in for operation on 26th June and we got the HER2 results back 2 days before. This was very proactive.
Have you asked what they are waiting for and why you need more biopsies - have they told you if ER/PR/HER2 yet? It sounds very frustrating and I feel for you.
Also - re the pain from biopsy - I had 3 biopsies from same lump - my breast wasn't numb so I screamed and they pulled the needed out and hit a blood vessel - they then had to put pressue on me for 10 mins to stop the bleeding - it was so sore after - even when I had my pre-op and they put the dye in for the sentinel lymph node marker - it was agony. I have heard loads of people say they are in pain from biopsy. I am still brusied from lumpectomy in June and July - but not painful.
I wish you all the best - I am 50% of the way through chemo and it's not been anywhere near as bad as I expected!
Thank you for your reply. Sorry I have just seen it. I had to have two more biopsies after the first 6 (3 on my breast and 3 on my lymph node) the second two came back positive for a second tumour which was 5mm. Second biopsies were nowhere near as painful though, and they put markers in. I had a mastectomy with alnc 9 days ago and am slowly recovering from that. Dreading getting the results this week as I feel I always get bad news. Feel sick and anxious at the thought of chemo and worried that they didn’t get clear margins and it might has spread further. Mine is HER2 negative ER&PR positive. How have you found the chemo?
If you have lymph node involvement you may need chemo, but don't worry too much about it. My cancer was ER/PR + and HER2 neg same as you and I have had 3 rounds of EC and I have just started 3 rounds of Docetaxel. I had the first Docetaxel a week ago and all 6 of the infusions are 3 weeks apart. It is completely doable in my experience.
I found EC very mild in terms of side effects - I could carry on with my normal life - but had flu and covid jab and just made sure I didn't mix with ill people or lots of people. I got a urine infection twice and had to go to A&E but it was precautionary and I wasn't ill. I didn't even know I had the infection it was due to temperature.
I have cold capped and still have some hair - very thin now but if I brush it back in a bun you cannot tell. The cold cap wasn't as bad as I expected.
EC - I felt sick during the infusion so for rounds 2 and 3 I saved some of the anti sickness meds and took it 24 hours before and it worked, mouth felt a bit weird and lost 50% of hair - but that's about it. I still have eyelashes and eyebrows (and hair on my toes - eughhh).
Docetaxel - no sickness. Main thing with this one is aches and pains and I won't lie it has been bad. 3 full days/nights of extreme flu symptoms but I am over the worst now and have a 2 week rest til the next one on 8th December - my last one is 29th December.
I got a PICC line fit as my veins are small and they always struggle with canulas. I was worried about it being inserted but it was fine - I didn't even feel it.
Try and think positive as you likely won't get all the side effects and the thought of it is usually worse than the reality!
Sorry to ramble on I just wanted to reassure you about chemo. I hope you don't need it - but I actually feel more reassured having it for the long term. I'm 45 so need to throw everything at this!
Thank you so much for your reply. It’s really helped. How long after surgery did you start chemo? Im a single parent construed about the side effects living on my own. My mind is just running wild with everything. It’s so overwhelming. So glad to hear you seem to be doing ok. I am 49 so I guess it’s pretty similar . x
I had my first surgery 26th June but they didn't get clear margins (I have a lumpectomy and they did sentinel node biopsy and took 3 nodes - 1 was positive).
2nd Operation was 31st July - but I developed a seroma and it ended up bursting open my wound so it took longer to heal.
First chemo was 15th Sept. They say chemo should start roughly 4 weeks after but depends on the wound and might be a little longer. The Docetaxel is making my wound a bit sore again but it's just the scar tissue.
Being a single parent must be tough going through this. My husband has helped so much but if I had to do it on my own I would have got through it. Have you other family that can help? How old are your kids? My daughter is 10 (almost 11).
Thank you. I have a follow up appointment on Thursday. 13 days post op. I’m hoping my histo results will be back. I’ve had family stay to help the first week. But now it’s just me and the kids. They are 15 and 13 so are able to help me. You sound like you had a few set backs. It’s so stressful.
