Single Mastectomy

Hi Kittymawinkin sorry you are feeling like this. It’s not easy!

i had a single mastectomy (+ immediate recon) in March 2018.  Like you, no treatment except hormone therapy. I found that once I’d recovered from the surgery and the physical side of it, the emotional side kicked in and I had months of feeling sad and tearful etc.  This time last year was the first anniversary for me of diagnosis date etc and that made me wobbly too. I have to say now, 2 years on I have found it much easier. It’s good to get past the first year and you are approaching this at the moment.

Also I had counselling and joined a local breast cancer support group, both these were really helpful. I still go to the group once a month. I would definitely recommend counselling.

Don't underestimate the emotional aspect of all this. For me it was much harder than the physical.

Take care

Hi ,

like you, I too had a left Mx but with implant reconstruction, no chemo, no radiotherapy and ‘just’ Letrozole. 

You've has a huge scare and heard ‘cancer’ as a diagnosis, it has given you a jolt to hit home that life isn’t permanent, it’s transitory after all and you are truly mortal. But you’ll get there....

I too found it tough to move on to begin with (and still get anxious at times) but with this site, my lovely team and also reading Dr Peter Harvey’s paper on when treatment finishes, what then....helped enormously. You can google the paper, it’s easy to find and is really, really helpful.

keep posting, it helps!

Hugs xxx

Hi , so sorry you are having these feelings but like myself and many others here you are not alone, I had left mastectomy in October last year and radiotherapy last December, now on Tamoxifen. I am having a really tough time emotionally and mentally whereas everyone around me says woo hoo treatment over all’s great but I’m am even more scared now and having really sad days. I have been told the meds can do this but it’s also the fact that having your life controlled and so much happening it’s now just you and the realisation of what you have been through. I have just been referred for a Hope course by my BC nurse so ask if you have one in your area. 
Take each day at a time and remember so many people here are thinking of you, huge hugs xx

Hi Kittymawinkin

I am sorry that you are feeling stressed about the unknown.

January 2019 was when I had my right side mastectomy and like you no radiation or chemo and on Letrozole for 5-10 years. I did have an implant as I didn't want to be flat on one side. Did you have an implant or any reconstruction? 

I know what you mean about seeing a letter dropping on the door mat from the NHS but life throws a lot of things at us and if you can take it in your stride then it makes for a happier you. I feel very lucky that by having my breast removed it has got rid of the cancer. I keep telling myself that the chances of getting cancer again is the same as the next person. I also try to look at it as giving me a second chance and that I should relax and enjoy life to the full. I have a lot to be lucky for and am very grateful to the NHS for saving me. 

I am very much the type of person who thinks "it is what it is and no amount of worrying can change the diagnosis" and believe me I worry about the smallest of things. 

I would speak with your Breast care team and see if you are able to go to a group with women who have been in the same situation this I would have thought would help you. I am a great believer in its good to talk but sometimes this needs to be with people that are not close to you but know how you are feeling. Or could you speak with a really good friend and say that you are finding it difficult to move on?

I have just had my mammogram on my left breast and the results have come back as no change since last year. Which is great news. But at the back of my mind I still think what if the results are wrong. This I have to keep to the back of mind as it can eat away at you and spoil life. 

I do also do a lot of sport running, cycling, classes and walking as this helps to keep my mind happy. Do you do any sport or could you take up a new hobby? Get your mind busy doing other things and then you will hopefully relax and be less likely to be worrying about the cancer returning.

I do hope you can become much happier and enjoy your life to the full and that anything I have said does not upset you in any way. 

regards
El

Thanks for your post as you have perfectly summed up how I feel. I had a routine mammo in September and after initially being told my suspicious lesion was a teeny tiny tumour which could be whipped out easily, I ended up having a full mastectomy as there was a second area affected and that was done in December. So here I am 2 months on and only now really starting to process what as happened. I saw a counsellor last week to help me. It is hard to situate myself now. I no longer have cancer, so I am not ill. In fact prior to my MX, I never even felt ill. I had major surgery, an amputation, without ever having seen any symptoms and taking it all on trust that the Drs were right. Physically I appear to have recovered quickly. But in my head, that is a whole different story. I took a long while to get going on the hormone therapy as I had read about side effects and was scared of that. I am now taking the pills and so far, nothing major. Just a few aches. But again, in my head ... what a mess !! The counsellor talked about post traumatic stress. I always associated that with soldiers coming back from active service but no, apparently we “qualify” too. And this part of the journey is difficult to share with loved ones. I feel I have to do this bit on my own and it is tough.  But through your post, you and I both can see we are not alone in what we are feeling.

moomy

Thank you so much for referencing Dr Peter Harvey’s paper. I have just read it and (through my tears) am thinking Yes, that is it ! Yes that is me ! Yes, you got it !! So please read it, if you haven’t already as it was spot on for me. Maybe it will help you as much.

https://www.workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf

Hi FroggyinFrance,

I read that paper just so close to my mx, and like you, I wept. I had read it before, when I was a carer for daughter (yes, my profile tells you why) and thought I’d seek it out again for myself. I stopped as I think it was too soon; I’d barely got home after the mx and so waited a while longer. But yes it sums up our feelings and emotions perfectly.

hugs xxx

Just read your profile moomy wow ! You know health issues in your family !!

Yup, it’s been tough; my Dad died of lung cancer when I was 24 too, and my only sibling, my brother, (lives in the USA since 1975) had bowel cancer, but is well, after his scare, he too didn’t need chemo or radiotherapy but got away with just the operation. 

Battle on, eh? It’s all we can do.

Hugs xxx 

Hi kittymawinkin, I'm sorry to hear that you have been struggling. It's quite a roller-coaster journey. I've had a similar journey to you. I had a single mascetomy in December and although happy not to be having any chemo or radiotherapy I'm three weeks into tamoxifen and feeling rough as anything. 

Saw my gp today and having bloods to check my thyroid, iron, and blood count. But I feel fatigued, low stamina and very fragile. I popped into my work and felt so far removed from everyone and incapable of taking my role on, it really wobbled me. 

I think we all can't underestimate what we have been through and the time that we need to emotionally heal and we need to give ourselves love and care. 

Take care