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saddly we lost our Dad to cancer last week June 9th 2010....missing you loads Dad xxx

I have been asked to take part in the taylor x trial. Im just wondering if anyone here is involved in it? I have to wait till the 1st of july (more waiting...lol) to get the results. The tumour was sent off to america for a specific test. There is a chance that i might escape having to have chemo...fingers crossed!!!!

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

Hello, I'm 18 and I'm very scared to admit that I may have testicular cancer, my right testicle has recently started to get painful & my 'sack' has increased in size over the last few weeks. I have a deep dark fear of checking for lumps on my testicles, I'm not sure why but yesterday was the first time in my life I have ever checked it was discomforting and frightening because at times I thought I felt lumps but I'm not 100% sure. When I urinate it seems to help the pain in my testicles, also when I masturbate it helps it. I know I really should go to my doctor but its just extremely embarrassing & I don't know what to do.

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