**OCTOBER CHEMOTHERAPY CHAT 2019**

Thank you so much for your really lovely reply. I almost wish that the doctors would just tell me what to do so that I didn't have to decide!! I'm scared of chemo, but my husband really feels like it would be best to go for it and try to get the cancer into remission. I am trying to be positive but it's just so hard to accept it all - I'm being really flaky, I know, and I'm so in awe of everyone's bravery and positivity here!

Hi

My story on profile feel free to read .

I was also asked to make decision and although mine was far easier than yours to make .

It was like being on a waltzer that wouldn't stop spinning . 

Talk this over with hubby and if nesc. Go back to team at hospital with questions until you feel you have all information .

Look at pro and cons of going straight for treatment or waiting . 

How will you feel if you don't go for treatment straight away ? Would that be more of a strain than treatment ?

Nobody else can answer these questions for you what we can do on here is give info about our own diagnosis and treatments .

Dont ever feel that you can't come on here .You will be welcomed by everybody . We understand how you are feeling we've been there !

Ive no doubt others will be along to share their stories with you 

keep posting 

margaret x

Hey , 

I’m not brave, and sometimes not positive either and mostly very scared. But I want to have the best chances I can at life so I go with the flow and try to look forward.

I think I have cried nearly all of my tears, but I try to be strong and mostly manage it. 

Get a piece of paper and write all of your questions and concerns and then ask the doctors and nurses the questions.

However, I think deep down you know the right answer, you just need to be in the right place to take your own advice. 

Eileen xxxx

Hi Eileen

ive also have note book/diary fir writing down SE so I can see if there is pattern to relate . So I know when "good" days are for planning trips out .

Chemo memory fog ( ok ok it's an age thing as well ) that bad I now work on principle that I always have phone on me therefore questions need to be on there  

I'm just waiting for them to mention Pic to me as I've def got TH.PHebitis. In my cannula arm after 2  of 6 EC 

enjoy your time with grandaughter they grow up so quickly .

 Margaret x

@Northerner,  thank you so much for your lovely replies and all the sound advice. My true gut feeling is that my hubby is probably right, but I just want to think all around it. But I worry that, if I didn't go straight for treatment and things didn't go so well, I might always wonder if I would have done better with earlier treatment. 

Also, I kind of suspect the fact that I'm spending Saturday afternoon lying on the sofa under a blanket feeling dizzy while husband has taken the girls out might mean that I'm not feeling quite as well as I'm telling myself I do (if that makes any sense!).

,

There you go, give yourself the best chance you can doll - you have so much to look forward to. 

I had no symptoms at all when I found my great lump, so it was a terrible shock to my system to go from looking fit to being a cancer patient! But while I’m having treatment this monster is being attacked   - and the chemo is a full body attack seeking out those slippery little cells that have gone wandering looking for a new home. Chemo isn’t pleasant but it’s here to help you xxx 

good luck with your decision - talk things through on here and with your loved ones. Also feel free to add me as a friend if you like. 

Eileen xxx

Thank you - I will!

And I think you're right. I know I can't beat this, but I can tame it. And I want to have the chance to do that as well and for as long as possible.

Eileen.....hello....

Please do think about this port if your surgeon is offering it. That doesn't happen very often in the UK. Why put up with pain when with the port you won't  get any?. Yes, it's a general anesthetic. ....I'll come back to the mechanics.....but once it's  in, it takes about 2 weeks to heal. I had mine on Dec 23rd and my first chemo on Jan 2nd. For those two weeks the dressings were changed by the district nurse because it must be kept sterile but I had no problems with that. Before each chemo I put a local anesthetic  patch over the place where the port is under the skin about an hour before. My hospital was an hour from home so my husband did it just before I left. 

Like you I hadn't had any operations before I had bc. I actually had my lumpectomy at the end of November and it was analysis of the tumour.....triple negative....that dictated the chemo. Before the lumpectomy I had no idea what to expect. I knew my veins are difficult and I discussed this with the anaesthetist. He promised he would find it first go.....and he did. I was only in hospital the night before because of the distance from hospital, winter time and a 07.30 appointment with the radio active department ( in a different hospital. I went and returned to the ward in a taxi. Not quite NHS I'm afraid.)

For the port I had a bit more idea. I knew where the theatre was, and the system of getting there with a porter leaving my chair and me in a sterile double ended room so the theatre staff could wheel me on into the unit. I had a general anesthetic for an op that took 10 minutes. I had arrived at the hospital ( taxi again) at 07.00 and was collected at 11.00. It is that quick. The surgeon had shown us exactly how he connects the port to the vein in the shoulder. He said that occasionally it might feel hard if I laid on it but it was never a problem. It was removed some months later when the oncologist was sure I wouldn't need it. A local this time. I was terrified......ask Dreamthief....he might remember how he calmed me down on the morning of the procedure. I couldn't believe that they could take out something with a local that required a general to put in.....I didn't look at what was going on. The nurse could see I was nervous so she stood the opposite side and chatted about every day things. I'm waiting to scream in pain and the doctor said......' pop into a nurse to change the dressing tomorrow and afterwards it would be fine to do myself. 'I was astonished and so ashamed I'd been so impish because literally I felt nothing. It had been removed!

I am left with a tiny scar that is fading with time. I have forgotten it was ever there until I read posts like yours wondering whether to have it. I think it's because it's not common in the UK that people fear it. It really is the best. Because it's inside, you have nothing to catch. Nothing for anyone to see and comment on. No problems with showers. You don't need arm protectors and you don't  get pain in your veins, arms or hands. It sounds perfect for you during the days you are working.

I have had a picc for a different op last year. There's no comparison.  The port is the deluxe model......my scores would go 1) port 2) picc 3) cannula. 

I was very unwell with chemo. I won't go into details but one thing I was never worried about was the three hours of each dose I sat, pain free having it.

So please ask me if you need to know anymore. Stop worrying about being whimpish....you can't  be worse than me but do discuss this possibility  again with your husband and your doctor and seriously consider it.

Hugs and love,

Karen

Hi Karen Lacomtekp,

now you have me thinking this might be a good move for me if I can keep my nerve. I will discuss it with the chemo nurse and my hubby next Thursday when I go for my treatment. I got upset when he suggested it so he said we will have to see how you go but I think we will need to discuss it again. 

Thanks for your advice i’ll look into it a bit more xxx

Eileen xxx