Hi everyone I was diagnosed 26.02.19 grade 3 no special type ER-ve HER2-ve in my right breast I had chemo first FECT followed by surgery quadrantectony and mammoplasty and sentinel biopsy. Followed by 20 sessions of radiotherapy which concluded 05.12.19. Sooo I feel all at sea now, I’ve been back to Oncology who said I’m now in surveillance and see him in 3 months they were happy they’d removed everything with good margins and there was nothing in my nodes .
so why do I feel so scared ??? Does it take time to get your confidence back in 52 by the way . I have soreness still in my breast and scar tissue and I don’t seem to be adjusting to my mammoplasty so well feels foreign in me :( . I’m still tired I want to do so much more but if I try I’m left in a heap at the very end of my treatments was diagnosed under active thyroid and plopped on Thyroxine for good measure along the way I had a DVT develop in my arm and had sepsis 2 !!
just can’t wait to feel normal again but loving my grey spikey hair so lovely to have hair again . Any thoughts out there is it unusual to feel so worried about every little ache and twitch ?
Hi and welcome to the Online Community, although I am sorry to see you finding us.
A cancer journey can bring a lot of stress, confusion, many questions and yes, the where now?..... but talking with people who are on the same journey can help a lot so well done finding the Community.
Can I first direct you to this link to our very supportive Breast cancer group. There are lots of folks who are post treatment and they hang around and support each other on the post treatment journey. So posting in this group will open up your concerns to a wider audience who know exactly what you are going through at the moment.
To join just click on the link I've created and then choose 'join this group' on the page that opens. You can then introduce yourself and post questions after selecting 'start a discussion' and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
You may also want to make a cup of tea and have a look at this great paper as it does highlight the milestones in post treatment recovery.
Getting normal again?...... I would be safe to say that this is one of the big questions we all look to find the answers for.......... I have been on my cancer journey for over 20 years now, so for me cancer is normal and just part of my life.
I often say that living the post cancer journey is like living in a parallel universe - you can see your old life but regardless what you do you can not get back on that same path.
Following my many years of treatment and now over 4 years into my post treatment life, a situation I was unwillingly put into. It did actually make us review life and everything that we once thought important.
So some things from our old life are still in our lives but various aspects of our old life that were once seen as important were put in the bin and we don’t miss them.
The future is sitting in front of you - think about driving a car. The big windscreen shows the future, the past is in the little mirrors and is getting smaller and more fuzzy as we move forward.....if you concentrate on the past you crash.
Talking to people face to face can help a lot so check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area or a Maggie’s Centre as these folks are amazing.
Putting some information in your profile can help a lot Click here to see how to add details as this helps everyone to see a little about you.
Always around to talk ((hugs))
Good morning, I do hope all is well where you live during this crazy weather..... yesterday, the main roads 30mins South of Inverness were covered in snow!! then an hour later it was a beautiful day!!
I am pleased you found the information helpful and do engage with the folks in the Breast Group as they are a great support network living through and out the other side of the cancer journey together.
The Community is full of stories of perseverance, passion for life and the overwhelming need to not let a cancer diagnosis define who we are and hold us back from becoming who we can be.
I made a choice to use my long and bumpy journey to help support others so I do some support work in our local hospital along with being involved in various Macmillan cancer support projects.
My passion is to bring an understanding that regardless of how bad a cancer journey is.... there is hope and a future out there to be found and grasped...... but it does take motivation to do the searching.
Do take care and keep looking for the gold in life as it is out there ((hugs))
PS - I do like your Big Yin Quote
This picture is life, most folks vision of life is the top picture but the reality is always rather different..... but through all the ups and downs the most important thing is to keep your eyes fixed on the greater good in all this - have a great day x
Well done you seeing BC live.... never achieved this..... but I have seen Johnny Cash Live - does that count? BCs outlook of 'live and let live' is a great foundation to build a life on and he is a true inspiration for all those going through medical challenges.
Volunteering - way to go. There lots of opportunities and not enough people to help out. We have a fledgling Macmillan befrending service in the Highlander where folks flying in to Inverness from the Western Isles will get picked up at the airport and driven to the hospital and the person makes sure they get to the correct clinics and that they are looked after during the day then takes them back to fly home again at the end of the day...... I would love to do this one but don't have time for that one - yet!!
I do hope your pear tree survives!!
I am just about to go out to our Daughters (20mins North of Inverness) to do a few hours cutting felt - she runs an online material shop and send stuff all over the world to little crafter businesses.
The glen she lives in is just above Loch Ness and the views are amazing (see below) I will take our 6 year old granddaughter back for the afternoon to let mum finish all her orders as they had been down in Birmingham at the craft show over the weekend.
If you can get your hubster to do the trip North - give me a shout.
Well this was my mornings work with my little helper 
I too have never been to Scotland.
This year we have our holidays sorted with two yarn shows, one in Builth Wells, the other in Skipton.
But next year we plan on heading to Scotland. We wanted to do camper van trip but it costs too much. So I'm thinking Airbnb (just love them) and go to certain areas.
Anywhere that is a "must see" also what time of year do you think?
On the volunteering root, my partner who came to all my treatments and relocated so we could live together now works on the Cancer ward at the hospital I was treated at which is a great comfort to me.
Never Give Up
Hi Sara, good on your partner.
Scotland - it all depends on what you want to see..... what your interests are so Edinburgh and actually Glasgow have so much to offer but are often very busy.
Taking time to wind up through the Cairngorms or up the West Coast is incurable and from Inverness you can go all points North, South, East and West........ including the wonderful Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides....... or up North to the unreal Orkney Isles........ but every where is busy from early Easter through to October........ but we like Autumn when the trees change and there is less Midges - yes you do have to take the little monster into account........... and I am only talking about up North but every area has something to over.
I would have a look at some of the BBC Programmes that follow presenters 'doing' Scotland as you get a good feel for the place ((hugs))
