I just thought it might be useful to mention supplements before radiation therapy. It hadn't been mentioned to me what to stop taking before surgery or before radiation and I discovered some of the supplements I was taking can thin the blood, so stopped those but it was the anti-oxidant supplements that I hadn't realised about and actually the nurses in the clinic didn't know - anti-oxidants protect cells, and they also protect cells against the damage from radiation, so it's not as effective if you're still taking anti-oxidants, so they need to be stopped well before radiation therapy. I'm glad I found this out in plenty of time, so wondered if it might help someone else.
Another aspect is that women over 71 can self refer. I went to my GP because after my last covid jab I'd had pain under the arm in the lymph gland and in the breast and I just wanted a check because my mother had died from breast cancer and I thought it was a good idea to have a mammogram. The GP examined me and said all was fine - there was nothing there, and said I didn't qualify for a mammogram. I went home and looked online to see where I stood on this and found with some difficulty, that I could self refer. Did that, had a mammogram very quickly, got called back quickly and they found a 2cm lump so having a lumpectomy and reconstruction next week. But I would like to see it publicised much more about women being able to self refer for mammograms over 71, especially since most breast cancers are that sort of age group! So many women I know had no idea about this. I have contacted Cancer Research to see if they can push this aspect a bit more, but don't know if there is another approach? Any ideas would be welcome.
