In need of a glossary

Just ask on here someone will answer with meanings . Not sure if there is a glossary I used  to use iPad to ask SIRI  

Hi Trixter

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  While I can't give you an answer about the abbreviations I thought I'd welcome you to the forum anyway and wish you good luck on your treatment journey.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Are there any abbreviations specifically at the moment?

I think one of the ones that I wasn't sure about until recently was EC with regards to chemo...I found out when I had my oncology appointment that this is what I'll be starting on and it stands for the combination of drugs used - Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide. 

Hello Trixter, I don’t know much about abbreviations either and it sounds like you and me have had the same diagnosis. I had my first E&C chemo on 12th July and I’m still waiting for the severe side effects to happen. All I’ve had is a little nausea. The worst thing is the filgrastim jabs every evening. And really that’s not too bad as the district nurse does it. It’s nice to have a face to face chat every evening, especially if you live alone like I do. Good luck with everything.

Boltonbabe xx

Thanks boltonbabe, I’m still waiting to hear when my treatment will start. But be good hearing how you are getting on a few weeks ahead of me. Might give me a heads up as to what to expect. I was lead to believe that 1st week was worse. How many days did you have filgrastim jabs for? I’m presuming that’s the steroids I have heard about? Best of luck x

Forgot to add CT results came in and hasn’t spread thank god. Stage 2 

You sound to be having the same tests and results that I had. You’ll no doubt have an echocardiogram next. I was in and out for that in 10 mins and had left the building before my appointment time!

30 mins before they administered the E& C they gave me 2 steroids tablets and an anti nausea tablet. I went home with 2 days supply of the steroids plus some anti sickness tablets and a mouthwash. I used the anti sickness tablets as a preventative and it’s been ok so far. The steroids made me really hyper and full of energy for 4 days. I didn’t sleep much! Then I slept a lot for 2 days and after that  I felt almost normal. My scalp has started itching a bit over the last couple of days.

I also.came home with a week’s supply of injections. These are to boost the body’s neutrophil count . I think most people are given these but not for the same length of time. I also have a type of blood cancer which affects my white blood cells so I may have been given more jabs than others. When I saw the oncologist last week he gave me 5 more jabs as my neutrophils were still low. You may be encouraged to administer the jabs yourself. That’s up to you but I couldn’t do it so the district nurse calls every evening. I live alone and it’s actually really nice to see a friendly face! I’m having my last jab tonight and will be having my second treatment on Weds 3 Aug.

I hope this helps. Good luck 

Boltonbabe xx