If Only I Had Known…
If only I had known this earlier
Almost every member of our cancer support group has a story to tell about their diagnosis and treatment. Health care professionals do not always manage to tell us everything we would like to know about Life with Cancer. We may not know ourselves at the outset which...
Swimming despite central line
Nearly 12 months ago I had a Hickman line fitted for salvage chemo aimed at stem cell transplant. I discovered afterwards that I shouldn’t swim or even splash around in a swimming pool with my grandchildren nor do exercise which involved lifting my right arm above...
Looking after nails
Painting nails during chemotherapy When I went to my first chemotherapy session, the nurse looked at my nails and said: “You know, if you paint your finger and toe nails the darkest colour you can bear, your nails may not fall out.” Until that moment I hadn’t even...
Dental care
I happened to visit my dentist shortly before starting chemotherapy, so I mentioned this fact to her. She gave me a lot of good advice re mouth care and some special toothpaste to use all the time I was on chemo. As a result I had no problems with my mouth, and I...
Coping with hair loss
Many people lose some or all of their hair during chemotherapy treatment. Hats, scarves, turbans, wigs – there’s a lot of choice, both to keep warm and avoid being stared at. Living Tree members coped as follows: Scarves and turbans/soft hats I didn’t want a wig as I...
Tietze’s syndrome
I had breast cancer 2 years ago. Six months later I had a new pain at the front… I was seen at the hospital by one of the breast team who recognised it straight away as Tietze’s syndrome – inflammation of the cartilage between the ribs and the sternum. Apparently it’s...
Scar tissue
When I had my lumpectomy plus level 2 clearance of lymph nodes under one arm, I finished up with a very raggedy, tight feeling scar which I am now told may be contributing to my lymphoedema. None of the doctors ever said that it was very important to work on the scar...
Nausea caused by tamoxifen
The first few weeks of taking my daily dose of tamoxifen I felt sick most of the day. I asked the oncologist. He recommended taking half the dose in the morning and the other half at night. I did this and the nausea went away. After six weeks or so I went back to...
Breast lymphoedema
I had to have a lumpectomy and a partial (level 2) lymph node clearance. The affected breast almost doubled in size right after the operation. Initially I was told some swelling was to be expected. When the swelling didn’t recede after some weeks, I was finally...