Hello my name is Heather I have just been diagnosed with brest cancer last week for the first time (and last I hope) Both my sisters have had cancer,one died seven month ago Im a bit scared of what to expect with the chemo. Can anyone tell me how soon after the treatment do you start to feel ill? How soon do you lose your hair?
Just thought I'd do an additional post that may or may not help you. I think I mentioned a few posts back that I have been going to meditation classes for the last year & I wasn't sure if the following may be beneficial to any of you. It can come natually to some, take practice with others or of course, not work for everyone, but I really thought it may help some of you..
If you want to try & get rid of any negative thoughts or just try & relax..find yourself a quiet place, get yourself sitting comfortably & close your eyes. Try to keep your back fairly straight, but relaxed & rest your right hand in your left palm in your lap with the end of your thumbs lightly touching each other. Keep your legs uncrossed & your feet flat on the floor. Of course, if you are not comfortable sitting like this, try your own position that you are comfortable with. I also have some CDs of meditation & relaxation music that I sometimes play, but if you are going to play music, make sure it is something gentle that won't distract you. Keeping your eyes closed, start from the top of your head & imagine each part of your body relaxing bit by bit, all the way down to your feet. When you are feeling more relaxed, try the following..
Concentrate on your breathing..breathing through your nose. Try & clear your mind of all thoughts & just concentrate on your breath. By concentrating on your breath, it should help to steer your mind from any thoughts that pop in your head. Do this for as long as you wish, concentrating on each breath & then as you start to feel more relaxed, imagine that when you breath in, you are breathing in pure white light that enters through your nose and floods your body..this light is positive light and fills your body with positive energy. As you breath out through your nose, imagine you are breathing out thick black smoke that spirals up to the ceiling and disappears. This black smoke represents your worries & fears & any negative thoughts. Keep repeating this for as long as you want & hopefully you will feel yourself becoming more relaxed as the light floods your body & your negative thoughts disappear. End by going back to concentrating on your breath for as long as you wish. When you open your eyes, you should continue to feel relaxed.
The second technique, which is my favourite is.. Again, find yourself a nice quiet place & get yourself comfortable, as before. Close your eyes & imagine that you are standing on the top of a hillside holding a bunch of different coloured balloons. Each balloon represents a negative or worrying thought. Release the balloons one by one, taking time to watch each one float up to the sky until is has disappeared. As each balloon vanishes from sight, so does the thought it represented. Keeping your eyes closed, you can again, just concentrate on your breath to keep you relaxed & as before, do this for as long as you wish. I always imagine that it is really sunny on top of my hillside & when all my balloons have been released, I lie down, enjoying the feel of the sun on me & it is from that position, I continue my relaxation..
Hope this does help some of you..please try it. Sometimes it is really hard to switch off all of those thoughts in your head, so if it doesn't work for you on a particular day, it is definitely worth trying again.
(I was just on another thread -thanks for your reply Marmalade. Glad to hear that your sister is in remission.)
I've just discovered this website,and although it's horrible to see that there are so many of us, it's comforting at the same time as you all sound so positive.
I have just been diagnosed (again) with breast cancer.
I had a lumpectomy, chemo and radio therapy in 1996 when my kids were really young, which I remember freaked me out completely....I can clearly remember the horror of the early days. So here I am 13 years on having had no previous recurrence , then noticed a small thickening in the same breast a few months ago. The first consultant I saw said she wasn't concerned by it, but I asked for a second opinion and this time the consultant confirmed that the enemy is back, but doesnt think it's the same as the original but an entirely new one. I have to wait until next week to hear how its going to be treated. My husband has been supportive but I can't tell my family yet as my youngest is about to take her exams and is already under pressure from that. Have been off work for a couple of days to recover from the shock of the news (have been doing silly things like putting the loo cleaner in the fridge!!) and am dreading going back tomorrow and having to tell my boss, as we are all overloaded as it is.
Has anyone out there had a similar experience of recurrence after a longish period of time?
Hi Lucy, im so sorry that you're going through this again :-( I guess it's going to be a hard time waiting for results and a treatment plan...at least thats what i found. Once you know what you're dealing with and know which treatments are needed it becomes alittle easier to deal with as you feel you can begin to fight this thing!! Please let us know how you get on next week, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Big hugs x
Hi Marmalade, thanks so much for your relaxation techniques. Im sure it's going to be really useful to many of us. Goodness knows i need to banish those negative or worrying thoughts from time to time!!
Hi Jean, yep the last Epi next week...woo-hoo :-D. Im abit gutted about the CMF side effects being tiredness though...i've been exhausted after each Epi chemo for a few days and was hoping not to be in the coma again!! I wonder how long it will take for our hair to start growing again?? I can't wait..yipee!!
Hope everyone else is coping ok and keeping well. Take care Chelle x x
Sorry this is totally unrelated, but Marmalade, was the book you were reading called Fluke? if it was thats one of my fave books (my dog was called fluke after it).
The book is called "The Art of Racing in the Rain" (his owner races cars) by Garth Stein..I thoroughly recommend it! The dog is called Enzo.. :-) I have never heard of "Fluke", but I will definitely have a look for it. If you do read this, I hope you enjoy it too!!
This thread is getting busy and sorry but my brain is having difficulty keeping up with everyone. Jean and Chell so pleased that they are changing your chemo and your hair will grow back. If I remember it only takes a couple of months to grow in enough to have it styled. Could someone post an update on everyone please this will help me catch up lol. Blame the chemo brain lol.
I was at the hospital yesterday and had a long chat with the consultant. I have bone cancer in my spine but its not sore where the cancer is its my lower back that hurts. He explained to me that I have osteoperosis there and thats why I am having so much pain. The bone pills should start to help in the next couple of weeks. (fingers crossed) I am having a bad day but the weather is crap and I think it effects my mood so hope the weather gets more like summer. Most days I feel good but I supose everyone has their down moments mine happens to be today. Done to much over the past week so having a lazy day today still in my dressingown and not planning to get dressed till much later lol I spent the last couple of days at my brother house in a place called Inversnaid at Loch Lomond which is fantastic. If I new how to post photos I would show you. He has a boat so took lots of fab pics of the loch. On Monday I am off to visit a friend in Oban for a couple of nights. Its a fantastic train journey so cant wait although the weather looks like it will be raining again. Would love to move to Whitstable where the weather is much warmer!
hello all, i had my bloods done today and saw the oncologist and there was no mention of 8 chemos,so next week is my last chemo. But im still so tired. i think the chemos are catching up with me. im still suffering with pain from my constipation episode the other week but it is getting easier. ive got to go out hairdressing tonite, dont feel like it, but i know ill be ok when i get there, and it does get me out for a couple of hours. sorry to be a moaning mini.
Hi there. I am 41 and was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. I am having a double mastectomy on Monday and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how long it will be before I can move my arms properly etc. TIA
Nice to hear from you Lorraine, but sorry to hear you are having a bd day. Hope you are feeling better today. Your trips to Loch Lomond and Oban sound great. We are not going abroad this year because of chemo and radio therapy interfering with our lives! What we hope to do is just take off when the weather is fine for a few days at a time. We'd like to up to Moray again. That's where my husband's family are from. We've had a couple of trips there in the past few years and really enjoyed it.
Blossom I'm sorry to hear that the constipation is still bothering you. Hopefully after your last chemo this will disappear. Do you have a date yet for your op?
Paula, welcome to our little gang. Sorry you have to be here, though. No doubt someone who has had a double mastectomy will be along and tell you of their experiences, following the operation. I can only tell you about myself. I had the lump removed and 5 lymph nodes. Then 10 days later had another op to remove the rest of the lymph nodes. The second op was on Feb 6th. The scars have healed fine but I still have stiffness in my arm and still do not have full movement, although I do the excercises every day. My second op was under my armpit so perhaps it is wrong to compare my op to yours. As I said, hopefully someone who has had the same op can tell you more.
Good luck on Tuesday, Chelle. I have my 4th chemo at 3 o'clock. When do you have yours?
Heather, I reckon you shoul be due your 3rd session on Thursay. I hope you are bearing up. We haven't heard from you for a wee while.
Margaret, I hope the radio therapy is going well. Does it make you very tired?
My thoughts, as ever, are with you all, as we struggle onwards!
