Good afternoon I was diagnosed with breast cancer end of January I had found a lump under my left breast a few months before but just sort it was some
sort of bone sticking out by January it had got a lot bigger so I went to doctors he fast tracked me for diagnosis.
At my meeting with the consultant she confirmed it was breast cancer she informed me on my CT scan they found lesions in liver my lung and chest bone
so I would need to have a PET scan this I had but the scan could not confirm if lesion in liver was cancerous I had an MRI scan All results finally came back
and thankfully the cancer had not spread.
On Friday 13th March I had a mastectomy and 19 lymph nodes removed 14 being cancerous I had to go back twice to have breast area drained
because of fluid build at my post operation check with my consultant it was decided I should have chemotherapy,radiation treatment then hormone
tablets I would like to say how fantastic my surgeon consultant and the nurses at Milton Keynes Hospital have been .
On Friday I go for my first session of chemotherapy at this stage I am very nervous at the pre chemo checks you are told about the side effects and
how bad they could I keep reading about them as well How worried should I be
Bernard
Hi Bernard, sorry to read about what you’re going through. Chemotherapy is different for everyone but the nurses are fantastic and make sure that you’ve taken anti sickness tablets and are always there for you when you need anything.
I didn’t have horrendous side effects and found it okay. Make sure that you’re going to be comfortable during chemo and wear jogging bottoms…(easier for bathroom needs as if you have an intravenous drip you don’t want to be moving your arm too much.
take some snacks and some sweets to suck as you can get a funny taste in your mouth. Also a good book, newspaper or puzzles.
hope it all goes well for you and wishing you all the best 
Hi Bernard I am sorry you find yourself here but welcome to our community. You haven’t mentioned what drugs you are having. I had 4 cycles of EC and 12 weeks of paclitaxel for my primary cancer. I had other treatments later when I was found to have secondary cancer in my liver. I don’t think anyone would say being treated with these drugs is pleasant, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. The oncology team take a lot of trouble to make sure you have supporting drugs to help with side effects.
My main piece of advice would be to make sure you stay really hydrated before, during and after the chemo. It really helps. Try to get out in the fresh air and have some form of regular exercise. I found keeping a symptom diary helped me see the patterns. I blogged my way through treatment. If you click in my name you will find a link to my blog at the bottom of the page. A lot of the earlier entries (May to Nov 22) are about my chemo experience. Later on radiotherapy is covered. I don’t have experience of hormone tablets as my cancer isn’t hormone sensitive.
Wishing you all the best.
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I have metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer, in remission
