Hello
I have been diagnosed with DCIS and I’m currently waiting for a mastectomy as it is a large area. I am driving myself crazy thinking that every little twinge I feel is connected.
Has anyone had similiar feelings and symptoms of anxiety like headaches, tiredness and sore eyes?
Thank you
I’m sorry you have had a diagnosis, it’s such a difficult thing to process but everyone here will offer as much support as they can.
You aren’t alone in experiencing symptoms waiting for surgery. Before my op last year I had discomfort in my shoulder, arm and back and convinced myself cancer was in my spine. Same as you I was tired, had headaches and sore eyes which, looking back, isn’t surprising as I wasn’t eating or sleeping very well and cried a lot.
I recently got recalled from my first annual mammogram and started feeling tenderness in my ribs so, of course, again jumped to the worst possible scenario. Turned out what they wanted to take another look at wasn’t even on that side!
Both times all of these things disappeared once I’d had the op/all clear, hopefully this will be the same for you too. x
Thank you so much for your reply. I seem to be rational one day and not the next!
Glad to hear that you have the all clear xx
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Hi @hope10 I’m so sorry you are going to have to have a mastectomy for DCIS and hope the surgery goes well. I had a lumpectomy myself but know tons of women who have had a mastectomy with various stages of reconstruction, or no reconstruction at all, and they have all done very well in recovery. I just wanted to try to give you some reassurance about the twinges. If you have DCIS only then there is no invasive cancer to spread, it is all contained within the breast duct so please don’t imagine things are running riot in your body because they’re not. It is something most of us fret about after diagnosis but a rare thing to happen to those with invasive carcinoma, such as I had, but not possible with DCIS/LCIS. Alas anxiety and stress can cause havoc with the body which is most likely what you’re experiencing. This is all a surreal thing to happen out of the blue so if you need someone who understands to chat to as you head towards surgery, call the nurses here on 0808 800 6000 between 9.00-16.00 M-F (9.00-13.00 Saturdays) and I guarantee you you’ll feel better for it. Good luck.
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Thank you so much for your reply, it has helped to clear my head a bit by posting here, getting replies and reading other posts.
Diagnosed and waiting for the same surgery. Currently two weeks after diagnosis and already have thought I have bowel cancer, lung cancer and I had a sore throat on Monday so thought it had to be throat cancer!
We are dealing with so much information, so much fear and although we have our families they don’t quite understand how we feel. Seeing you are feeling exactly how I feel makes me know I’m not crazy. We are just dealing with a lot. You’ve got this and we’ve got this!
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Hi motherducky
I think we are probably stronger than we think but when the mind starts to wander it just keeps going!
I had my surgery on Wednesday morning and was home for 4pm, without a drain. I have had some pain but it is manageable with the pain killers and I have been doing the exercises which seem to be helping with the stiffness.
The worst thing I have found is getting out of bed in the morning but I just take it very slow.
I hope you are doing OK - it may not be for you but YouTube guided meditations for anxiety really helped me.
Hopefully you will get a date for your surgery soon and it all goes well xx