Hi Ciara - and welcome back. I remember your username from when you were here before!

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a rough time . In 2009 I also had a diagnosis of lymphoma and at the same time breast cancer. In my case, treatment for lymphoma was chemo and in the end I needed a mastectomy so that meant I didn't need to have rads. We had finished our family before that, but I had some problems with menopause-like hormone levels so I was concerned about my fertility in the sense of wanting relief from those menopause symptoms. It did get better but it has taken a couple of years.

My understanding is that radiation is very targeted - it only affects the area that it was pointed at. So chest wall/breast/axilla rads shouldn't have any direct effect on your fertility. But - and I think this is what happened to me - when your body experiences stress/trauma (like surgery) it can have an effect on your hormones, specifically the hypothalamus/pituitary system which helps regulate what your ovaries are doing. For me I had several rounds of surgery then chemo then a really big surgery and the total effect shunted me into a menopause-like state. My GP did blood tests & it wasn't ovarian damage as such - that all looked ok - it was the rest of the system that had switched off. You would probably know if this was the case because it comes with menopause-like symptoms: hot flushes/absent or extremely irregular periods. Over time it has normalised and I'm pretty sure I now have some fertile cycles, and I'm over 40 now so that's saying something LOL.

Anyway, as part of the journey I have connected with other young women with breast cancer via another forum, and a number of those ladies have gone on to have healthy & happy babies without assistance (one of them was a very big surprise LOL), and I also know of a couple who went down the IVF route successfully as well, even after BC chemo which is really rough on fertility. So women can and do have babies even after significant treatment.

There's a fantastic website here with loads of helpful information. In the first instance, if you haven't already, have a chat with your GP or your Onc. They should be able to run some blood tests to assess what your fertility status is like and they will be able to tell you in more detail about how your medical history might effect your TTC. It's also a really good opportunity to talk about the emotional impact your journey has had on you - and if you feel you need some extra support, ask about seeing a counsellor as well, because your whole-person wellbeing is important too. And I wish you all the absolute best in this new stage of life with a wonderful man.