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Hi I have a mastectomy next Tues. I'm hoping to go to my daughter's graduation in Edinburgh the following Tuesday - the consultant says I should be able to, but what does he know I know we're all different but do you think I would be up to flying, eating out, crowds in terms of pain, meds, etc. I've been told I should be out Thurs or at the latest Fri. Btw if anyone wants a giggle, "Lopsided. How having breast cancer can be really distracting" by Meredith Norton is a really funny book with loads of black humour Made me laugh out loud several times.

Hi girls, The surgery is done, chemo done, radiotherapy done! Went to see my Oncologist last Tuesday and he doesn't want to see me again until October. So thrilled, I'm giving cancer the boot. Its so nice to have the summer ahead without any treatment. Well I am starting Tamoxifen this week but I refuse to anticipate any problems there, am I naive? I hope you are all keeping well and thanks again for the support. Garcon

Hi everyone, I've lurked for a few weeks but finally decided to post. I had a mastectomy in May and an axillary clearance 3 weeks ago as some of the sentinal nodes showed signs of cancer also. Thankfully the results from the other nodes were all clear and the bone and cat scans (which I found terrifying) were also clear. I've recovered from both surgeries very well and have been feeling pretty positive about everything. But today, I met the oncologist for the first time and am now trying to process all the information I've been given. I'll have chemo every second week for 8 weeks and then weekly for 12 weeks. Then radiotherapy when that's all over. It's all stretching ahead of me now and I am so scared of it and the side effects. I know I have no option and I said from the outset that I would do whatever I need to do to get through it all - but I'm just plain scared now. There seems to be so much to take in and the thoughts of having weekly doses of chemo are so daunting. Will I be totally debilitated or will my body have any chance of recovering a little between treatments? I have some great friends and a fantastic husband, but no one I know has gone through this, so any advice or suggestions are most welcome. I think I need all the support I can get right now

There is a meeting on monday the 12th of july for young women with breast cancer. Its in arc house in eccles street, dublin. It is a great place to meet people who are going through or have gone through the same crap we have. Plus the tea and coffee tastes fab

Hi everyone Nearly one year on since my diagnosis, have had the mastectomy and the chemo now on Tamoxifen. There could not be much more I said . . wrong. I have been very down crying nearly every hour on the hour not like me at all. I had gotton through the hard bits why go down now. Anyhow just to let you know I started counselling this week at The Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre and after my first session I feel slightly better. I never realized how much I was holding in trying to protect my family. I could do everything, I was superwoman rather than admitting to them I needed help. Hopefully the counselling will help. Evelyn

I do think breast awareness campaigns are a good idea but i also think they need to be accompained by GP awareness campaigns. there is no point in going to the doctor and being made feel like a fool or a hypochrondiac when you have breast cancer that they have put down to hormones and it takes five visits before getting to the trible assessment point, young healthy fit people do get cancer too.

Having had my first chemo session on monday, I thought it might be a good time to put up a thread for people to put up some good advice for us newbies starting. Im having 8 rounds. 4 AC and 4 T. I was just so relieved to get it started, i wasnt worried at all. I just couldnt wait to get going. Im on day 4, and not doing too bad so far. Im taking things really easy, just pottering around (waiting to grow a second head or something ) Ive taken all of the tablets given to me, Im not taking any chances at all. Even the ones that say take if necessary, Im not waiting to see if theyre necessary. So far, Im extremly thirsty. Im dringing about 3 ltrs of water, plus tea and orange juice during the day. Ive an endless supply of orange ice pops to cool me down. Im rinsing with oral b 5 or 6 times a day, and brushing my teeth very carefully after every meal. Im resting as much as i can, sometimes i just crash and have no choice but to lie down and sleep. If anyone has any other tips they could stick up here to give me a heads up on what more to expect. My head feels like mush

A warning for anyone coming off HRT. After BC diagnosis I was told to stop taking Hormone Replacement Therapy immediately. This resulted in a very sudden and violent onset of menopause symptoms which are still making my life a misery after nearly seven years. I have done a lot of reading on this subject and it seems obvious that HRT (like most drugs) should be weaned off slowly to enable the body to cope with the adjustment. The medics don't warn anyone about this as far as I know. Hope this helps someone

Hi Everyone, If you need to complain about, or compliment, a hospital or member of staff you have encountered, this is the email address to send your feedback to. yoursay@hse.ie This is the official HSE contact and they aim to respond within 30 days. See details on their website. http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/ysys/Complaint/ Regards, Flo.

I am 39 years old, married with two babies - 5 months and 22months. Last week I was told that I had breast cancer. I found a lump in my left boob 5 weeks ago now. About a week after finding it I went to my GP who referred me for further tests in Beaumount. In the last two weeks I have had mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy of the lump and sadly the results have confirmed my worst fears. It seems that I have two tumours – one about 19mm in size which can be felt. The other, right beside it, is about 9mm and cannot be felt but can be seen via ultrasound and mammogram. Current options for me at this point are (a) Have the two tumours removed ie a lumpectomy (b) Have a full mastectomy – having more than one tumour usually dictates a mastectomy! However cos they are right beside one another it may be possible to just have a lumpectomy but I need to have an MRI scan on my boob to make sure there are no other growths there. The good news is that it does not appear to have gone into my lymph nodes as yet according to what can be seen via ultrasound however I will shortly have a biopsy of those nodes to test for sure whether the cancer has spread to there. I am still in shock with the diagnosis. Too shocked to actually tell friends tho I have told immediate family. I just keep bawling my eyes out anytime I think of what lies ahead. Anyone else been through this and come out smiling??