Hi all
I am new to this, so please let me know if I get anything wrong, although compared to some of your stories, mine seems quite trivial. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2014 and had lumpectomy on 23rd December and I am now coming up to my 5 year check up, which is how long I had to take Letrozole for after my op and radiotherapy. I lost my husband to bladder cancer just before Christmas last year and my brother last week, although my brother wasn't to cancer. I am now finding that I am panicking about any result and also that if I am given the all clear, then a feeling of being alone, am I going mad? Am I still classed as having cancer until I get the result? I have so many things going around in my head, but as I said it seems trivial compared to what some of you are going through. My thoughts and best wishes to all of you with fighting the invisible gremlin. x
Hi
I totally understand how you are feeling, so totally second dreamtheif's comments. So sorry to hear of your recent losses too.
I am already wondering about the 5 years (diagnosed mid 2017) on anastrozole instead of letrozole... but it strikes me as a very odd thing that we are taking tablets to reduce our oestrogen and all the while when we are getting the treatment to prevent it coming back, we are checked annually. As soon as we stop taking the tablets, they go to every 3 years! I gather their effectiveness stops at this point from what I have read and maybe all the oestrogen is already out of our system and won't come back- who knows. But I gather studies have shown that there is no greater benefit to an extension than if we stop at 5 years, unless high risk. Based on what you have written (no chemo) you were like me where it hadn't spread to your lymph nodes, so - low risk.
However, I have already made the decision that if I don't feel comfortable on the 6 year anniversary, I'm going to my doctors and asking for a mammogram (with the number of lumps and bumps left from scar tissue from the ops, there's no way I'd know if I had a lump or not!), so that way by saying there might be a lump, I'm going to ensure that at the 5 year anniversary, I've already chosen a safety net to prevent the worry of being alone once the 5 year marker is hit. I may well be perfectly alright at the 6th year anniversary, but if not - my mind is in the meantime controlling the worry of 'being on my own' because I already have a plan
Hope this helps,
