[Misc] Downer thread - breast cancer.

poidy said:

You and your partner have my deepest sympathy as I know what you’re going through.

2016 my partner got diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ - a sort of lesser Cancer where the cells remain within the ducts. Three operations to get clear margins and that was that aside from annual mammograms thereafter.

Fast forward to 2021 and after her annual scan, we were both shocked to discover cancer had spread to the main breast tissue. A mastectomy came soon after, followed by 18 weeks of Chemotherapy which was really, really tough.

We had a major scare only 3 weeks ago, following her January mammogram results and a telephone call from the hospital. Recalled to the hospital the very next day for more scans and a consultation, we were both fearing the worst.

Thankfully and by the grace of god, it was just scar tissue from her reconstruction operation, but my god that was a terrifying 24 hours.

US Seagull (or indeed anyone else dealing with Breast Cancer as the other half) if you ever want any advise give me a shout.

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US Seagull said:

First chemotherapy session was this morning. Seemed to go off without a hitch and so far so good. Fingers crossed. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Chemo is going to be a lot. She has sessions every two weeks for eight weeks (i.e. 4 rounds) with two different drugs. Then she'll have weekly sessions of a different drug for 12 weeks. So, all going well, it'll be some time in August when we can (hopefully) wrap that up.

Then they'll be radiation to finish things off. Every day for 5-6 weeks.

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Zeberdi said:

Yep - it’s a long, tough journey you are on for sure but glad it went ok this morning - that’s a small step forward on the path to recovery at least but the length and intensity of treatment sounds horrendous.

Stay strong both of you and I’m sure you will find support on NSC any time you need to vent. Rooting for you both. For your wife X

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US Seagull said:

First chemotherapy session was this morning. Seemed to go off without a hitch and so far so good. Fingers crossed. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Chemo is going to be a lot. She has sessions every two weeks for eight weeks (i.e. 4 rounds) with two different drugs. Then she'll have weekly sessions of a different drug for 12 weeks. So, all going well, it'll be some time in August when we can (hopefully) wrap that up.

Then they'll be radiation to finish things off. Every day for 5-6 weeks.

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Wardy's twin said:

My wife had chemo every 3 weeks, for the first week of the 3 week cycle she was on steroids so was 'lower' at start of week 2 rather than straight after the chemo.

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US Seagull said:

Yeah, that's about what we expect. It's going to be up and down with the low hitting in between sessions in terms of weaker immunity and fatigue. We'll see how it goes. She has to go back for a check up next week so they can see how she's doing. She has a thing attached to her at the moment that is supposed to automatically inject her with a drug to boost her white blood cell production tomorrow afternoon. Kinda neat bit of tech. Saves a trip back for a shot.

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