Introduce Myself

[blackcat]

I am 34 yr old, was diganosed early breast cancer on 04/01/2011. Never believed horoscope, but when flip through "women's days 2011 horoscope" a few days ago, saw the line"on the 4th Jan eclipse, something will trig you to seriously think about your health" I am Leo. SPOOKY... i had mastectomy done a few days ago. Surprisingly I haven't felt any pain at all since the operation, amazing.. Cheers.

[#2]

Hi Blackcat, welcome to the site, nice house,reminds me of my many trips to asia,hope you are travelling well and get something positive out of the site as I think you will. Dave

[blackcat]

Thanks Dave, I have never been there. I would love to go there one day when I recover. That picture always make me calm.

[david71]

keep your chin up and it will all come good in the end

[diannep52]

Hi Blackcat, welcome to the site. Glad your surgery went well, you will find that the area wont have a lot of pain, due to the numbness from the op. I had mastectomy and full axilla clearance 2 years ago and my right side, underarm, arm and back are still quite numb, which is all the more reason, why you should not try to overdo things. Listen to your body and rest when necessary. Are you going to have chemo and radiation? There is another site that you may find interesting (recommended to me by one of the other members of this forum) - www.bcna.org.au this is the Breast Cancer site. Hope you continue to recover well. Di 🙂

[robbieb]

Hi Blackcat, I am new to this too, just having had Mastectomy week ago. I have just come home from hospital. I have post op appt next Monday, to discuss either further surgery, chemo etc. Looking forward to meeting new friends. robbieb

[diannep52]

Hi Robbieb Welcome to the site - hope all is going well for you and you are recovering from surgery. Just remember - dont overdue it and take your time recovering. You are in for 'one hell of a ride'. Good luck with your doc's visit next week. Di 🙂

[Allicat]

Hi Blackcat & Robbieb, Welcome to the site. I am 33 and was diagnosed with early breast cancer 7/10/10. Today was my 8th & final chemo & I'm due for a mastecomy with immediate reconstruction in about a month. Blackcat - Glad to hear that you are not in pain after the surgery. I had 2 surgeries last October - the first just to take out a lump which we were all thinking was benign & then the 2nd to take out more when it turned out to be cancer. The 2nd surgery was definitely less painful in the breast because of the numbness and it is still fairly numb now. Alli

[blackcat]

Hi Alli, thanks for reply. congrats to get over with the chemo finally. something needs to be celebrated today. I am going to my 2nd chemo today. My hair just started to fall off yesterday. I recovered pretty well after mastecomy. Alli, are you sure you want reconstruction right away, good to allow sometime to let the body recover. I heard that reconstruction operation takes about 8 hours seems more complex than mastecomy.

[blackcat]

Hi Robbie, hope you are not in pain now. I've been through that a few weeks ago. the scar and pain after mstaectomy is nothing compared to the whole journey we are going to face. what kind of chemo your doc discussed with you. I am going to my 2nd chemo today. wasn't bad as I expected so far. Have a nice day.

[robbieb]

Thanks Blackcat. Surprisingly no real pain at all after Mastectomy. Just numbness under arm and down side of chest. A bit sore and uncomfortable but then still have dressing over stitches. Will see Surgeon next Mond for results and further treatment. regards Robbie

[blackcat]

Hi Robbie, because the nerve was removed during OP we don't feel pain. I am regaining feel under arm and side chest 6 weeks after mastectomy now. The dressing will come off natuarlly abour 5 weeks time. Good luck with the result meeting, keep me posted. Cheers

[Allicat]

Hi blackcat, Hope your second chemo went ok. People advised me that I should shave my head as soon as my hair started to fall out. My sister cut it mostly off for me and then I went to the hairdresser & they shaved it (and didn't even charge me!). I was expecting to be more bothered by the hair loss than it turned out. I was nervous about wearing a wig at first but I got used it quickly & I also have a range of little caps and headtubes which are good. It seems logical to me to have the mastecomy & reconstuction at the same time although it does extend the recovery time by having the reconstruction. I am quite small-breasted so that may make it less complex - the plastic surgeon said he would use the smallest size implant. Allicat

[Allicat]

Hi Robbie, How are things going? Did you get your results & treatment plan? Allicat

[Catherine08]

Hi all, I am new to this I was diagnosed with early breast cancer in Feb 2011 and underwent a mastectomy 2 weeks ago my auxillar was clear! I am due to start chemo next week! My fear is for my children and how they will cope with the side effects of the chemo. My children are 15, 11 and 8 we have been open with them about the cancer so we hope that will help. I hope you are all staying positive. Catherine08

[robbieb]

I am new to this too. I was also diagnosed with breast cancer in February this year, and underwent Mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy about month ago. The nodes removed also showed cancer cells, so I am having surgery tomorrow to have axillary clearance. Then I see the Oncologist early April. Yes all we can do is to stay positive and take day by day. And yes stay open about it and keep positive. Take care, Robbieb.

[kj]

good day i am new to this I am kj i was diagnosed july last year while we were on holidays with cancer in the head of the pancreas we flew home to go to hospital to confirm diagnosis,my bile duct was blocked and i went yellow,it took a few weeks for me to get strong enough for whipple surgery.I had surgery was in hospital nearly 3 weeks was home one week got out of bed and blacked out it happened three times in 30 minutes it was blamed on bloodpresure tablets luckily the district nurse was due and convinced me something was wrong ambulance came and i went back to hospital,while i was there i had a massive internal bleed lost a lot of blood and was having blood put in to try and stem the loss of blood staff worked tirelessly.they could not find where i was bleeding from and eventually the vessel clotted. The surgeon said if it happens itt is usually in the first week after surgery,I wenthome after a couple of weeks but i had to go home with a catherter for i couldnt urinate because of enlarged prostate,i dveloped an infection in uretha so i could not have chemo i then had prostate surgery in october so i could have catheter removed what a relief i started chemotherapy in november and have had 10 sessions they have reduced dose by 45 pecent iam looking foward to last session my pain from surgery has only reduced by 30 percent i am wondering if this is normal they told me it would take 6 months to get over the pain can any one give me some information thanks kj

[#18]

Hi kj, Welcome to the site, i have only flitted in and out the last few days as my dad is in hospital having some probs sorted out ( not C related ). I tend to join in occasionally when i think i can help, but being in the small H & N group most of us do not have much to pass on to you as useful information..i being one of them. So i wish you well you well and hope you get your answers as some people on this site have a lot of useful info and advice to give. TC Dave

[sunflower]

HI Catherine, i was diagnosed this year with breast cancer too and have only had one lot of chemo so far - so we are almost at the same stage. I am waiting for my hair to fall out this week and will have my seond chemo next week. I have joined some local cancer groups and that has helped me stay positive and know i am not alone. I am also seeking counselling at the cancer care centre to keep my head in the right space! i hope your chemo is going ok.