I was diagnosed on 1st june, had my operation on the 4th and back to the consultant yesterday and he has advised my I need further surgery which im ok about, no chemo, radiotherapy to start in August, which I am a bit concerned about, I am 42 with 2 teenage sons and some days I just feel like screaming and other days are ok, does life ever get back to “normal”
Dear Carmcgl,
I had a WLE in Dec 08 and 15 sessions of rads in March. No chemo like you. to answer your question about getting life back to normal.
For me, normality can’t be the same as before the dx. After treatment, I am left with a whole range of feelings that I am gradually working through.I think the whole dx thing on it’s own is a horrible shock and that in itself is hard. I’m 3 months from Rads now which is no time, but gradually I have days when I’m not consumed by the cancer that was or is? who knows if one is clear or not???
For me one of the hard things is grappling with the anxiety one is left with, around will it come back? can I ever trust my body again?
When I get in to these thoughts and can’t shift them I tend to do some relaxation tapes and find I can move the negative stuff. I am determined that the anxiety will not dominate my every waking hour!!!
Best wishes Leadie
thanks for that, I dont think life will ever be the same again, you will always wonder, Ill get there, trying to keep positive is hard sometimes!! but my boys keep me going x
Hi, Im coming up for 6 months since diagnosis,not long finished rads, was lucky tht didnt have chemo and here I am out the other end…it’s early days for you yet and everyone deals with it differently.
Im on tamoxifen for at least the next five years but again seem lucky that haven’t had any side effects kick in…yet…
Im 45 and my girls are 12 and 10 and have been great through this, yup it changes you but Im living my life for the moment,who knows what tomorrow will bring, my stats show Ive got a 5% chance of dying from a non cancer illness or accident…am not going to dwell on that or worry about something that may or may not happen, easy to say I know but cancer has had enough of my time spent on it,am intending on enjoying the summer at the moment.Good luck and hope you get through the rest of your treatment problem free.
Sandra x
Well put Sandra. Wish I’d said it that way. 
Carmcg1, normal is what you make each day depending on what happened the day before. You’re switching gears and for a bit the gears are going to crunch, but you get used to that gear box and things do start to move more smoothly.
It’s a long haul and no mistake, but you can do it. Let yourself feel what you have to feel, give yourself time to process what’s happening, and be kind to yourself through this. The sun comes up every day and the planet keeps turning, we just need to breathe and turn with it.
Best of luck, and keep posting. This is an amazing forum.
Hi,I was diagnosed in November last year and was lucky not to need either a mastectomy or chemotherapy, I finished 15 rads in February and am now on tamoxifen for the next 5 years. I’ve been lucky that I never lost my positive outlook throughout treatment and I frequently said “Cancer can have my winter but by spring I want my life back”. I have to admit that moving on has been easier said than done, I can’t seem to shake off fatigue and depression in recent weeks has really upset me. Last week I had a good chat with the bcn and she assures me that there is a solution to any problem, I’ve had blood tests done to-day in readiness for seeing the onc next week, this appointment was made by the bcn and isn’t my usual routine one, so I feel happy that I don’t feel that I’ve got to soldier on by myself.
I’ve been blaming the tamoxifen for the way I’ve been feeling but after speaking to the bcn she’s pointed out that my symptons could be a reaction to all that I’ve been through. I do think that when we have to cope with the diagnosis’s that we do we should make sure that we give ourselves the time to deal with what it does to our heads as well as our bodies.
Take care everybody, take life step by step, day by day. Olwen
thanks guys for all your lovely comments, you really no longer feel alone when you join this forum, my friends have been great but they dont really understand the way I feel, thanx xxx