Hi Audie

I hope that you get your results when you return to hospital next Friday, The waiting is always a difficult time, but you sound like a very positive person and this should help you to get through your treatment,

I have had two primary cancers within a year of one another and I underwent six years of hormone therapy, which I have just finished, I had a lumpectomy the first time and a double mastectomy the second, I did an extra year of hormone therapy because Tamoxifen didn't work for me the first year, I went on to Letrozole the second year and was advised to take it for an extra year, just to be sure,

Do keep us in the loop with your histology results, We are here for you any time you want to talk or need support,

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

hi jolamine thank you for your reply and encouraging words, wow you have had a lot to deal with!!!!, thank goodness you are now on your well earned road to recoveryxxxx  Yes i will keep you informed, i have at the moment got a large swelling where they have taken out the lymph nodes dont know if it is a bit of lymphedema or just a bit of delayed swelling, its not too painful just uncomfortable!  My frame of mind is quite practical to be honest que sera sera as they say, if i allow myself to think of any possible negative outcomes it makes me think about making funeral arragements thats how practical it is. Hopefully i wont need to yet got lots of things on my bucket list. haha. lots of hugs to all of us on our journey. xx

Hi Audie

You sound like me, Once I'd got over the shock of doagnosis, my hubby and I started looking at funeral plans and re-visiting our wills,

I had quite a lot of swelling and discomfort following my lumpectomy, They removed 6 lymph nodes but none of them were affected, I did however develop Lymphoedema and have attended various clinics for this ever since,  First of all I tried drainage by machine, but this made no difference

 I then attended classes which taught me how to drain my arms myself and then to bandage them, This didn't work either,

 I now attend a clinic for manual lymphatic drainage from a Lymphoedema nurse, It takes her about an hour to carry out the drainage and another one to apply the compression bandages, This is done twoce a week for two weeks out of every twelve,

I get some very strange looks from people when I have the bandaging on both arms, I look like the Michelin man for these weeks, so I can see why people are curious, I have been doing this for about five years now, Every time my hands and arms were measured they were up in one place and down in another, On my last couple of visits they have come down a little, but this may have something to do with losing over 5st in weight,

That was as a result of taking so much medication much of which caused weight gain, In between my 12 week treatments, I wear elastic sleeves from shoulder to fingertips, Strangely the side most affected was not the one with the lymph node clearance but the other one,

It took about 9 months for the pain to disappear post-surgery, I live in a street with speed bumps and I found going over these in the car uncomfortable, but manageable,

Hope this is of some help,

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx