Welcome - we've grown the site a lot in recent months
Feel free to browse around - or use the search box below to search the site for specific breast cancer information
We've also added these breast cancer videos by popular demand. Click on the image to make the video play. Take a look. Let us know what you think of them:
Marks and Spencers stores set to stock mastectomy bra rangeMarks and Spencer have long been one of the mainstays of the UK lingerie market.
They have also given great support to breast cancer charity over the years.
Now - from this week - they're launching a new range of mastectomy bras and mastectomy swimsuits.
The bras look great and have built in pocketing for a prosthesis. They've created a range of feminine and flattering bras which will support you after surgery and are suitable for everyday wear. The bras are also inexpensive compared to those companies who manufacture mastectomy bras as their main range.
Check out
Marks and Spencer online store for more details.
You can read lots more stuff about dealing with life after mastectomy on our article resource pages.
Look under "post surgery bras" in the catalogue - check out the swimwear too.
Well done Marks and Spencer - we love what you're doing!
Labels: mastectomy
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CEF Chemotherapy Side EffectsWell, who'd have thought it....chemo wasn't that bad after all. Have waited to post this blog cos I thought the dreaded
chemo fatigue would hit me but it hasn't - fantastic!
Had chemo last Wednesday (21st June) and having it was very nice actually, a seat for an hour or so chatting to a lovely nurse and Gordon, then cup of tea and home.
Felt slightly nauseous about 6 hours later then sick a couple of hours after that. I really felt quite panicked as I didn't know how long it was going to last - an hour? a day? the whole three weeks?!! Lucky old me it only lasted for three hours followed by 12 hours sleep and I have felt fantastic ever since. Gordon keeps scratching his head and wonders if I got a placebo instead....lets hope not.
The only side effect I can honestly own up to is a metallic taste in my mouth, but it's not putting me off food (or wine!) so not much to moan about there.
To feel this good is SUCH a relief. I'm not totally daft tho' and do realise it probably won't all be plain sailing but 1 down, 7 to go!
If anyone is reading this and about to start chemo, don't listen to anything anybody has to say that's negative. Just wait and see how YOU cope with it.
I was determined to not be a 'lie on the couch' type of patient and as it happens I feel amazing and full of normal energy levels. So, keep positive and sing a song very loudly when someone says ' oh no not chemo, my second cousins great aunt just felt so awful.........!'
MarjoryRead more about
chemotherapy side effects on our chemotherapy thoughts archive page
Labels: chemotherapy
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Surviving radiotherapy treatmentMarjory won't start radiotherapy until the four sessions of CEF chemotherapy (FEC chemotherapy in the UK) are over but we've already begun chatting about how she'll cope with phase two of her
breast cancer treatment program - radiotherapy to the chest wall and to the supraclavicular lymph node area.
Where better to look for advice than to someone who has already been there, done that ... got the T shirt. Jacki Donaldson has a great
post about surviving radiotherapy on the Cancer Blog.
Check it out - it's very well written and gives some great tips for dealing with radiotherapy side effects.
Labels: cancer-sites, chemotherapy, radiotherapy
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Desperado
Why don't you come to your senses ... Marjory and I went to see the Eagles in concert in Glasgow on Friday night.
We were a bit anxious about how she would be after the chemo two days before but - hey, no need to worry. A bit tired by the end of the show but lets face it .. good old Joe Walsh looked like he'd been having chemo daily for the last ten years! Only joking Joe - you looked and sounded great.
It's weird really - I didn't have any great expectations about what the concert would be like. I'm not a great one for stadium shows in any case, and the Eagles .. well, yeah - everyone likes the Eagles but .....
Maybe I'm being unfair. I suppose they're really just a neutral part of our youth and we grew up with them harmonising softly in the background .
Anyway, to my surpirise - the Eagles Glasgow show was fantastic. From the old classics like Tequila Sunrise and Take it Easy right through to the (ermmm, errr ...) old classics ... like Hotel California and Life in the Fast Lane - they had the huge crowd eating out of their hands. They even introduced songs by saying things like "this one was from our first album" -
album !!
Ah the redolent scent of good old smelly vinyl - where are you now?
They produced a big second encore finale with a fabulous and tearjerking rendition of Desperado - and there wasn't a dry eye left in the house.
So - the morale of the tale - if you and your blood counts are up to it then don't let chemotherapy hold you back. Get out there and join a good old fashioned sing a long - it's good for the spirits all round.
GordonOne more thing - just for fun - join in below and lets have a vote on this:
What's your favorite Eagles Song?I'll start - it's got to be Hotel California.
I remember the fuss when the album came out and how it competed for turntable space with Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Genesis's Trick of the Tail.
Come on - comments please ...
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Hair Today - Gone Tomorrow
Chemotherapy yesterday - Hair Loss Tomorrow
Well - one chemotherapy session down, seven to go! Sorry about the delay in posting this.
Actually - having the chemotherapy injected was a bit of a breeze. I sat with a chemo nurse who gave me all three drugs by what she called a bolus injection. In other words, she injected each in turn from what looked like huge syringes. Very odd sensations at times.
The chemotherapy I am having at the moment is called CEF (or FEC in the UK). The letters stand for Cyclophosphamide, Epirubicin and 5-Flurouracil. The cyclophosphamide was very weird. It gave me the sensation of downing two glasses of wine one after the other and - while not expected - it wasn't completely unpleasant. It wore off very quickly and I was able to go home feeling completely normal.
I felt great for six hours apart from bright red pee from the Epirubicin. I won't dwell on the next six hours after that .....yuk, yuk, yuk .... but it did only last six hours and then I had a fabulous nights sleep.
I've felt great ever since - but a bit wired and fuel injected thanks to the steroids that they've given me. This has been great for Gordon because he thought that he was going to have to do all the housework, but every time he turns his back, I've done it.
This buzzy mania feeling has been a pleasant boost but it's hard to get to sleep. The chemotherapy nurse warned me not to take the steroid dose after lunchtime to try to minimise this effect. I hope I don't crash too much on day four when I stop taking them.
All in all - it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought.
So - feeling good enough to go to an Eagles concert tonight. Boring old you know what's we might be but looking forward to a good sing along.
Have decided to have a hair shaving night tomorrow with my daughter Amy and Hilary my friend. It's odd - now that I know that my hair is going to fall out soon, I've gone off it in a big way. Beginning to hate my own hair now actually - how bizarre. I have a lovely wig and various nice hats so going to be positive about it and just whack it all off. Staying in control helps me cope.
OK - off now to brush up on the old song lyrics. More soon.
Marjory
You can find more
information about chemotherapy side effects here
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Turning Heads - Hair Loss and Chemotherapy
Marjory and I received an email from Steve O'Keefe with the following announcement of a new book about hair loss after chemotherapy.
You should take a look - the book looks amazing, and might allow many women to think again about how they see themselves after chemotherapy hair loss.
Here's Steve's message:
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Check out the pictures of beautiful, bald women from the book,
"TURNING HEADS: Portraits of Grace, Inspiration, And Possibilities"
at:
http://tinyurl.com/l9enb
TURNING HEADS contains pictures of women who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. It features some of the best fashion and news photographers in the world -- including four Pulitzer Prize winners.
Many women diagnosed with cancer fear losing their hair more than losing their lives. This fear can prevent them from getting proper treatment.
Filmaker and cancer survivor Jackson Hunsicker spent five years assembling these inspiring images. "The women in these pictures are out in the world, doing things, getting on with their lives while they recover," says Hunsicker. "They teach us all a much needed lesson that bald is a look you can live with."
Read more of our posts about chemotherapy hair loss on our chemotherapy articles archive page
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En Francais - Bien Sur
Hey - whatever next.
Pointblog.com - a leading french language blog site has featured us with a review
Check it out
hereMy apologies for the poor state of my French - I can still speak it relatively well, but when it comes to trying to write anything down ... well thats "un autre histoire n'est ce pas!"
Track back here to the post
Un cancer du sein au quotidien
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Sleeping With The Light On
Breast Cancer, Sleep and Keeping the Lights On At NightWhen I first read about this study it all sounded a bit to far fetched to be true - but the evidence does seem to support the claim that
sleeping with the light on can increase breast cancer risk.
The study was certainly done by reputable scientists at the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the United States. The authors believe that it might partly explain why breast cancer risks are rising in rich countries - but don't seem to be in the developing world.
Now - it seems clear that some of this increased breast cancer risk in the Western world relates to issues known to be linked to breast cancer like family history, smoking, drinking alcohol, diet, medicines, and such reproductive factors as childlessness and having children late.
But evidence has been building up that using electric light during the hours of darkness may also increase breast cancer risk.
Other research in the past shows that night shift workers are much more likely to develop breast cancer and that women who are in the habit of frequently staying up late are also at increased risk. Some studies also show that totally blind women are less at risk from breast cancer.
The link seems related to melatonin - a substance naturally produced by our body when in darkness. Melatonin is known to impair the growth of cancer cells and improve the immune system.
Now - like all these studies, they're only a small part of a bigger picture - but, as I type this, Marjory is reminding me that she doesn't like the dark and has slept with a light on nearby for most of her life! We'll be changing that from now on!
As for me, I'm trying cider vinegar for insomnia - I'll let you know how it goes !
Gordon
Labels: chemotherapy, insomnia, living-with-cancer
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In a New York state of mind!!
The thing about breast cancer is that nobody knows how you feel, I mean really feel, deep down.
A fab thing has happened since Gordon and I started this blog- I can chat to lovely, amazing people who DO know how I feel. They may have or are recovering from breast cancer but we all have had the same thoughts at one time or another.
I now e-mail reguarly a
lady in New York who is pretty much on the same path as I am. We were diagnosed at the same time and are going thro' very similar treatment regimes. She is good fun and her e-mails always make me feel 'Hey am not alone!'
One of the refreshing things about this is that we are very different ( apart from the fact we both have horrible curly hair, which come to think of it won't be a problem in a few weeks!)
She is a career girl with no children while I am a Mum to 4 childern and 4 step childern and also run a buisness from home. We have different lives in so many ways but have become friends because of breast cancer. Not really the way I'd ever have thought of striking up a friendship but there you go!! Life
IS strange.
I wouldn't wish chemo on my worst enemy ( honestly!) but it is nice to know I can chat to someone who might be feeling the way I'm feeling while having toxic chemicals pumped into us.
Someone told me to think of chemo as a golden elixir flowing thro' my viens to heal me. Great visualisation if you can manage it and I'm going to give it my best shot.
Golden elixir, golden elixir, golden elixir, gold...........hey it's working..........!
Marjory
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A Painful Breast Lump - Could It Be Breast CancerI'm one of those guys who checks now and again to see who has visited the site - and what they searched for to find us.
Painful lump in the breast comes up time and time again and it's obviously a topic that worries people. I thought I'd put together this little information package about
breast pain and
painful breast lumps.
Please remember - the details below are not intended to let you diagnose the cause of your breast pain - see a doctor if you have any kind of lump in your breast.
You need to remember that - while most breast lumps are not breast cancer, some of them will be! Please see a doctor if you have a lump in the breast - don't try to make your own diagnosis.
What Causes a Painful Breast Lump?- Breast Infection
Infection can cause a painful breast lump. This is most common in women who are breast feeding but can also occur at other times. A breast lump caused by an infection is likely to be painful. Some women will also have redness in the breast and feel shivery or unwell. You should be aware however, that some kinds of breast cancer - called inflammatory breast cancer can also show itself a bit like this. - Breast Injury
Injury to the breast or to the chest wall can cause a painful lump. Falling against a bit of furniture or a direct blow to the breast can cause bruising inside the breast tissue. This sometimes results in a painful breast lump. - Benign Breast Lumps or Fibroadenomas
Adenoma lumps are common. An adenoma in the breast is a benign lump that does not turn into cancer. They are usually painless but some women are aware of discomfort. - Breast Cyst
Breast cysts are often tender, and sometimes are really quite painful. A breast cyst is a benign lump that is filled with fluid. They often change size and can seem to appear or disappear as the hormone levels change in a womans menstrual cycle. They often are most uncomfortable or painful just before your period is due - typically improving when the period starts. - Breast Cancer
This site contains a huge amount of detail about breast cancer in other articles. You need to be aware that any lump in the breast could be breast cancer - although most are not.
Breast cancer lumps are often painless - but they can be painful in some women - or painful some of the time.
Can a breast cancer lump be painful? Yes - definitely.
Is breast cancer always painless? No - certainly not.
I'm repeating myself, I know, but please ..... if you have a lump in the breast and are reading this site - go see your doctor soon.
Gordon
You can read more of our posts about breast lumps and breast pain on our breast lump archive page
Labels: a-lump-in-the-breast, cancer-support, mammogram, symptoms-of-breast-cancer, what-is-a-mammogram
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Herceptin - Look Out, They're At It Again
Herceptin Press Hype Misleads Women AgainWell - here we are again, again, again ...... !
Only days after NICE - the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence reviewed herceptin and ruled that it should be made widely available in the UK - and after my previous
herceptin in the UK posts - I find that the press are at it again.
So its
black marks and raspberries to Medical News Today who lead today with the headline:
"Herceptin Recommended For All Early Stage Breast Cancer Patients, UK"
They go on to say
"Basically, this means that all women will get treatment free - probably in England and Wales, and most definitely in Scotland"
Now - sorry guys - but that's just not true and can only cause distress and confusion to many women with breast cancer.
Much better journalism can be found at Politics.co.uk who take the same press release from NICE and get the story spot on. They say:
"Herceptin will now be available to everyone who could benefit from it, regardless of where they live."
"We must remember that Herceptin is only suitable in about one in five cases of breast cancer. So it’s essential not to create a climate of false hope for women, where Herceptin is seen as a miracle cure suitable for everyone with breast cancer."
Come on guys - you know that you can do better than that.
Gordon
Labels: a-lump-in-the-breast, cancer-support, herceptin, symptoms-of-breast-cancer
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High days-low days!
Well here I am, waiting patiently for the 21st of June when they're going to blast me with chemo. Strangely enough I can't wait to start-the sooner I do the sooner I finish I guess!
Don't know about anyone else out there but the whole thing is like being on a roller coaster!
I was cheered yesterday by a friend telling me about semi-permanent
eyebrow tattooing. Great I thought, help if they do fall out. Then as soon as high is over I seem to very quickly slump. I mean, who wants to get excited by their
eyebrows falling out?! Me it seems.
Ah well....keep telling myself things could be worse ( nobody mention Brazil)
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Herceptin - UK breast cancer patients win battleThe National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK have finally given the go ahead for all suitable women with early stage breast cancer to receive
Herceptin Treatment.
This means that a woman with HER2 positive breast cancer with our without lymph nodes can be offered herceptin as part of her treatment plan. The final decision about giving herceptin will be taken by the oncologist in charge of the case.
This sees the end of a long battle for breast cancer pressure groups and breast cancer sufferers.
Herceptin in the UK was previously reserved for women with widespread breast cancer disease or with several positive lymph nodes.
This means that the NHS system will now fully fund herceptin treatment for those UK women who can benefit from it.
Read
more in the press here
Read my previous postings
about herceptin treatment, about
herceptin UK, about
Tykerb and about
new drugs for breast cancer.
GordonWhen to use herceptin remains an issue for many patients with breast cancer - read more about it in our herceptin treatment archive page
Labels: breast-cancer-symptoms, cancer-support, chemotherapy, herceptin, living-with-cancer
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New Herceptin Information from the HERA studyHerceptin is going to form a big part of Marjory's treatment program. New
research data from a huge international trial of
Herceptin in early breast cancer has been released in the last few days. This shows that women treated with Herceptin had their risk of cancer recurrence reduced by about 35% and their risk of death reduced by about the same amount.
Please read my other recent posts about
herceptin treatment and about
new breast cancer drugs when you're taking this information into account. Remember that herceptin only works in women whose breast cancer is susceptible to it - so called HER2 positive breast cancer. About twenty five percent of women with breast cancer have a tumour that will respond to
herceptin treatment.
The HERA trial is one of the largest breast cancer research studies ever done. It looked at more than 5000 women with HER2 positive breast cancer around the world.
The HERA study will report results again in the coming months about whether taking Herceptin for two years is any better than taking it for one year. The study is still going on so that information is not available yet.
Concern about herceptin causing damage to the heart has also been eased by the HERA study results. Only 0.6% of women who took herceptin showed any significant signs of heart problems.
These results provide yet more good news for those women whose breast cancer can respond to herceptin. New guidelines for treatment with herceptin in the UK are expected soon.
Gordon
This site now has several herceptin treatment articles - you should check them out for more information relating to herceptin's place in breast cancer treatment
Labels: breast-cancer, breast-cancer-risk, herceptin, living-with-cancer
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Just a Crazy Thought
I wonder how many bloggers around the world set their alarm clocks this morning - just so that they could have a post with the date and time stamp
06.06.06.06.06It gets you like that - this blogging thing
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Tamoxifen or Raloxifene for Breast Cancer PatientsHere's another example of the kind of thing that I was discussing yesterday when I wrote about
new breast cancer drug studies.
The information
published yesterday about the role of either tamoxifen or raloxifene in preventing long term recurrence of breast cancer highlights two of the points that I made.
Firstly - be wary of information given from early brief reports from research studies - the early conclusions might not stand up well when the research is properly analysed. This is what happened here. The National Cancer Institute launched a news conference in April 2006 - before the study results had been properly published.
They said that the study would show that raloxifene users had 36 percent fewer uterine cancers and 29 percent fewer blood clots - suggesting that this made Raloxifene a safer choice than Tamoxifen.
Now that the study has been properly published and analysed by breast cancer experts around the world it's clear that there is almost certainly no real difference between the two drugs in either effectiveness or in side effect risk. More work will be done in future but for the moment the evidence suggests that tamoxifen is not any more likely to cause uterus cancer than raloxifene. Blood clots are very very rare with both drugs.
Secondly - always ask yourself if this research actually relates to your own case in any way.
I've read about a dozen or more different newspapers reports on the same research findings. All of them report the study accurately enough - but only one of them mentions that its only women who have a hormone sensitive tumour type that will gain any benefit from either of these drugs. Once again - this is good news for
some women with breast cancer.
I know I seem to be banging on a bit about this sort of thing - but it's very easy to become misled by the way that the media covers breast cancer information
Stay well
Gordon
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Well here I am about to have 3rd seroma drained! As I said before, medically they are no big deal but, hey when you actually have one they seem a big deal! Hopefully the fluid build up will slow or stop soon and I can get fitted for my prosthesis. Having said that the little 'softie' I got post op is very comfie and I'm quite fond of it really-not sure I like the sound of silicone!
Marjory
Check out our article resource pages for more information on seroma and on life after mastectomy
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New Drugs For Breast CancerIt won't have escaped your notice that the press and TV news are full of articles today about
new breast cancer drugs.
The reason, I think, is that there has just been a major medical conference and many new breast cancer research findings were made public for the first time.
The media (bless-em !) do their best to report things in a straightforward way. But the big picture often becomes blurred as headline writers try to outdo one another in superlatives.
Breast Cancer Wonder Drug?There's no doubt of course that new drugs such as
Tykerb (Lapatinib) ,
Aromasin (Exemestane) and
Herceptin are changing the face of breast cancer for many women. But the hugely important question to ask when you read these reports is:
"Does this research apply to me?"It's human nature to ride the emotional rollercoaster isn't it - to follow "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" as Shakespeare once said. But, if you're going to stay mentally focused and balanced as you deal with your breast cancer, you need to have a clear view of the path ahead.
A good example of this is the fuss that the media have made about
Herceptin. Yes, of course, it provides a great breakthrough and will transform the lives and probably the outcomes for
some women with breast cancer. But not for
all women! The media sometimes blur the edges when presenting this kind of information. It's not deliberate I'm sure but it happens nevertheless.
Herceptin - Wonder Drug?As many of you reading this will know, Herceptin is only helpful in about a quarter of women who have breast cancer - those whose tumour is sensitive and has positive HER2 receptors. There is really no evidence that herceptin will help the other seventy five percent of women with breast cancer because they simply don't have a tumour that will respond to it. But that's not how the media sometimes tend to portray it!
The estrogen receptor story is broadly similar. Yes - drugs like Letrozole or Tamoxifen can make a big difference for some women - but again, not for all women who have breast cancer. Many women have a tumour that is not in any way sensitive to estrogen hormones. Hormone controlling drugs will not help them in any meaningful way.
These details often cause confusion and distress in breast cancer sufferers. Treatment decisions are often painted as if there is a financial or political motive behind them but your oncologist may choose not to give you herceptin because he or she knows that you simply won't gain any benefit from it.
Understanding New Breast Cancer DrugsHere are the kinds of questions you need to ask yourself when you read about a new drug or treatment:
First - and most important - you need to make sure that the women described in the report or article are similar to you. For example, a report about a drug that helps elderly women with a single lump and no spread to lymph nodes might not be relevant to you if you are aged 34 and have lymph node spread in your armpit.
So
know your self before you start reading.
- Are you premenopausal or postmenopausal?
- Do you have positive lymph nodes?
- Is your tumour hormone sensitive?
- Is your tumour sensitive to herceptin (HER2 positive)?
- Has your cancer spread to other parts of your body?
- Is your current treatment aimed at cure or at slowing down the spread of a cancer that can't be cured?
Your doctor or oncologist can tell you these things if you don't already know the answers.
Beyond those basics you should keep the following in mind when you read a press report:
- What type of breast cancer patients does this report describe? Is the drug or treatment in the article intended for early stage breast cancer? Advanced stage but still local cancer? Cancer that has spread through the body?
- Is the reported benefit of the new breast cancer drug related to controlling cancer symptoms or to the outcome for those women who took it? Both are important but both are very different in many aspects.
- Is this press report based on a large new research study? Or is it just a preliminary report of results in a small number of women? The first is much better than the second.
- How long has the drug been around? Have lots of studies shown the same kind of benefits or is this the first report about a new kind of drug? There have been a lot of false dawns in all areas of medicine and breast cancer is no exception.
There are lots more questions you might ask yourself but the above are among the most important.
Hope For The Future
We are living in an exciting time for breast cancer research and its only right to take hope and inspiration from the benefits that new treatments are bringing.
But remember that breast cancer is as varied a disease as there are women who have it. Someone else's wonder drug may be of no benefit to you and - for the sake of keeping mentally on top of things - it's better to take all new announcements with a pinch of salt until the new drug described is well established and has found its own niche amongst the many other treatment options available.
This is a long post - sorry - but I hope many of you who read it will find it helpful.
Give me feedback if you disagree
Gordon
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Just A Walk In The Park
Race For Life - Edinburgh, June 2006I don't know if you've ever been to Edinburgh. It's a very ancient city with lots of green space in and around the built up districts.
At the heart of the city lies Holyrood Park with the landmark hill of Arthur's Seat at its centre. That's the venue for the Race For Life each year in Edinburgh.
We set off along with about 8000 other women for a 5Km run ( or walk in my case) around the hill. Last year I ran it - not suspecting for a minute of course that people would be running with my name on their shirt this year. Hey - what the hell, if you cant beat them ......
The support and buzz was fantastic
I walked all the way and raised about £200. The day raised well over £500,000 in total for cancer research. I don't know if you've ever taken part in one of these occasions but if you haven't then please do. You'll love the sense of togetherness that it generates and the buzz from being involved.
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Race For Life
Marjory is taking part in the
Race for Life around Edinburgh on Sunday - a mere three weeks and two days after her mastectomy.
Photo's to follow - lets hopethe weather stays dry for the occasion
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Marjory's Story
Marjory's StoryAs this site grows and grows we thought it would be helpful to have a fixed right margin link that will allow you to follow Marjory's story as we progress together towards beating breast cancer.
We're aware that Marjory's more personal posts will become lost amongst all the breaking news and treatment information.
This page will be updated as time goes by and will contain links to all the relevant personal posts.
The story so far:
April 2006 - Breast Cancer DiagnosisMarjory found a lump in her right breast in early April 2006. We were referred to the Edinburgh Breast Unit and first attended on Easter Monday.
Core biopsy samples were taken on our first day after ultrasound scan was highly suspicious - showing three areas in the breast that looked like cancer.
We returned to get the
breast biopsy results about four days later and this confirmed that all three areas were breast cancer.
We met with the surgeon and between us planned for mastectomy and right sided axillary lymph node clearance.
May 2006 - MastectomyThe operation went well and Marjory was only in hospital for only two days - coming home (by choice) with two
mastectomy drains in place.
Not surprisingly,
mood swings after the mastectomy were prominent at first but things soon improved.
May 2006 - Pathology Results and Seroma ProblemsPathology results after the mastectomy showed that Marjory's breast had five discreet areas of tumour and that eight out of twenty six lymph nodes were involved.
Marjory had
problems with a seroma for a number of weeks but this gradually settled with a few hospital visits to have it drained.
Life got
back to normal amazingly quickly and within two weeks she was back into the old routine of mum's duties.
We met with our
breast cancer oncologist in late May and plans were put in place for the start of chemotherapy.
We sorted out the
choices for chemotherapy and the plan for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and ongoing herceptin thereafter was mapped out for us.
Seroma again reared it's head but we settled down thereafter to planning for the treatment program that lies ahead of us.
Choosing hats for chemotherapy was fun and we found some good websites - eventually ordering about six great items.
By the end of May we figured that we'd put the surgical treatment phase behind us and were starting to get our head around the next part of our epic adventure
June 2004 - Waiting for Chemo to start
Off to a good start in June by taking part in the Race For Life in Edinburgh. Upbeat and feelgood buzz. Raised a bit of money for cancer research and a bit of awareness that life can go on as normal even when you're busy beating breast cancer.
Seroma fluid filled up again - drained again for hopefully the last time - now three weeks and a bit after mastectomy.
Date set for start of chemotherapy - June 21st 2006. Midsummer madness then !!
High days and Low days - getting ready for chemotherapy - wig sorted out. Finding out about semi-permanent eyebrow tatoos - helps to keep busy and keep ahead of the game
Marjory found Lorien, aka Abigail, aka The Cancer Grrrl not long after starting this blog and their lives seem to have converged in some kind of bizarre but meaningful way. Read In a New York state of mind to find out more.
Check back to this page often as our story develops
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Tykerb for Breast Cancer - How does Tykerb work?(Lapatinib for Breast Cancer)
Drug company Glaxo have been working on
Tykerb for breast cancer and for other cancers for more than ten years.
We know that in about twenty five percent of women with breast cancer, their tumour growth is partly triggered by excessive amounts of a protein called HER2. These are the women who respond well to treatment with Herceptin.
The HER2 protein makes tumours grow by activating receptors on the cancer cell surface. There are two receptors that we know about and they are called ErbB1 and ErbB2.
Herceptin blocks the ErbB2 receptor but Tykerb blocks both.
Tykerb can be taken as a pill every day. Herceptin needs to be given as an IV infusion on a regular basis.
Studies so far seem to suggest that Herceptin can't enter the brain and thus can't treat or prevent breast cancer tumors that spread to the brain. Herceptin also has been found to cause heart problems in about 2 percent to 3 percent of women.
Early studies seem to show that Tykerb can enter the brain and researchers hope to show that taking it can reduce the frequency of breast cancer spreading to the brain - called brain metastases. More work on this is still needed before we can be sure.
As with all new drugs it seems wise to draw hope from these new studies - but we should all keep a degree of doubt until the drugs have been in use for a few years and until more information is available.
Read
more hereGordon
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Tykerb Treatment for Breast Cancer(Lapatinib Treatment)This weekend sees the first proper public presentation of the data from a study involving the newest drug for breast cancer -
Tykerb or Lapatinib.Tykerb better than Herceptin?It's still early days of course but the manufacturers hope that the new Tykerb tablet will be at least as good or better than Herceptin in the treatment of breast cancer.
The research to be published in Atlanta will supposedly show that Tykerb works even after patients with advanced breast cancer no longer respond to Herceptin, and also that it has fewer side effects. The other advantage is that Tykerb or Lapatinib can be taken as a tablet where Herceptin needs to be given by injection.
Earlier studies seem to show that Tykerb works in some patients who no may not be responding to Herceptin treatment.
Some of the research has been done in the Edinburgh Cancer Centre and there are plans in Europe to subject Tykerb to it's largest clinical trial yet, involving 8,000 women with early breast cancer, before the end of the year.
The studies of Tykerb available at the moment have been done in women with metastatic breast cancer - or cancer that has already spread to other parts of their body. The new research with Tykerb is planned for those with early stage cancer.
This sound like more good news for breast cancer sufferers who are HER2 positive (or herceptin sensitive) - but lets remember that the research is still at a very early stage
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more hereGordon
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Herceptin - Wonder Drug or Not?So much has been written about
herceptin treatment for breast cancer recently that it can be difficult to figure out where the facts end and the hype starts.
Marjory will have herceptin added to Taxotere as part of her impending chemotherapy program and will then continue with the herceptin alone every three weeks for a year after that.
I've looked for ages for an easy to read article that gives a balanced view of the role of
herceptin in breast cancer treatment. Today, I might have found it.
An
article in the UK based Guardian Newspaper today (1st June 06) provides a good overview of the current state of play. It's written in easy to read language and summarises the research statistics in a down to earth way.
The author says:
"But before we get carried away with what has been called a "miracle drug", let us examine those statistics a little more carefully. About 40,000 people are newly diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year. Of these, around 10,000 have the type of tumours (known as HER2 positive) on which Herceptin works. So the drug is sadly irrelevant for 75% of breast cancer patients."He then goes on to look at disease free survival rates with herceptin and overall survical rates too - drawing fair conclusions but downplaying the role of herceptin for the global population of breast cancer sufferers.
I take the point of the article author that you can draw many different conclusions from statistics and I also agree that it's important not to generate false hope in the group of women who by the nature of their disease will not be helped by herceptin.
But - for Marjory and thousands of women like her - with a herceptin sensitive tumour and positive lymph nodes the advent of herceptin and it's cousin drugs yet to come is nothing less than a godsend.
No doubt we'll be posting lots more about herceptin in the months to come - watch this space - but, for the meantime, have a read of the
Guardian article and see what you make of it.
Gordon
We've published several herceptin information articles on this site - take a look for more informtation about how
herceptin will be used for breast cancer treatment
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Pain after mastectomy surgeryPost mastectomy pain can have many causes.
This article by a US based cancer surgeon gives a good overview of the problem of pain after mastectomy surgery.
At times the language is a little techical but he does describe the problem of pain around the mastectomy wound or scar, pain in the armpit after mastectomy and the rarer - but quite weird - "phantom breast pain."
The article is a good place to start if you want to read about the variety of pain problems that can develop after mastectomy surgery
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