Hello all, thanks for this forum. After two biopsies, they found DCIS and I was informed this afternoon. What can I say? Well, just have to get through this. Trying to get divorced at the same time, so some stress.
Oh Tigony,not a good time for you !!Never a “convenient” time to have cancer though ! The good news is you have a very treatable type of cancer and very likely you will be absolutely fine ,lots of support and advice on this forum .Let us know how you get on.Jill.
My son was doing his AS levels when I was diagnosed and I didn’t feel it was fair to give him the additional worry so kept it very quiet ,told only a few close friends and family .I found that only people who had been through similar really understood which is why this forum is so helpful .
Not very well handled by your doctor by the sound of it.The message he should have been giving you is that this is very treatable,do you know what treatment you are having ?
DCIS is completely curable .Occasionally they can find tiny amounts of invasive cancer when they remove the area of concern but the treatment is the same sugery and radiotherapy.and outcomes are very good .Some people manage to work through all or parts of their radiotherapy treatment .It does get tiring and if you have to travel to a hospital that is not local it can be time consuming .Is it worth being honest with you new employer ? if you really need to work and they can be flexible ,it will be hard but you can manage it if you really have to .
Basically the treatment you are having is preventative,DCIS has the ability to develop into invasive breast cancer if not treated.Coming off HRT is a bugger but sensible .They may offer you Tamoxifen or other hormone treatment if you are post menopause to help prevent further DCIS developing which has its own challenges.Crack open the gin ,you will be fine !!
Glad I have helped ,when I was first diagnosed the messages I got from other ladies on the forum helped save my sanity and made me feel far less alone .Have a look at the information on the main breast cancer care site about DCIS it will reassure you .
Hi Tigony, just thought I would reassure you regarding radiotherapy, at my hospital I was asked what was the most convenient time for my sessions, so if your hospital is flexible you may be able to have late afternoon/early evening sessions to fit in with work. I was very lucky that I only had a 15 minute daily drive and I managed to work all through it, I didn’t find it particularly tiring, but I guess that will differ person to person.
I have 2 boys, they were 14 and 10 at the time and we did tell them when we found out it was cancer, purely as it was easier to then go off for appointments at the hospital without making excuses as to where I was going! They were very upset for the first couple of days but were actually fine after that probably as thngs went on pretty much as normal. But I understand why you wouldn’t want the worry to affect your son’s studies at the moment, I would probably have done the same had the boys been older.
As the other ladies have already said, dcis is very treatable and some women have it without ever knowing and it never develops the ability to start spreading, so your treatment is purely preventative.
Good luck with everything. Michelle xx
There is a lot of “anxious waiting” in this game I’m afraid ,frustrating you just want to get on deal with it don’t you ,not sit around worrying and waiting for something to happen.Do you have a date for surgery ?
So, a week after the doctor’s utter gloom, I was finally rung by the breast nurse who was upbeat and encouraging and made me feel so much better that I was able to tell my two older children. They were fine with it, and I am glad I did. No date yet for surgery, but I found I could just get on with my life without thinking about it too much.
Glad you are feeling better and that the nurse restored your faith in the medics !!
Good morning everyone,
new to this forum. Yesterday i was told my breast lump was cancerous… Just sat there in disbelief.
back for another biopsy next monday to test another part of my left breast.
surgeon week after who will then have newest results n tell me if its gonna be a wide cut incision or mastectomy… Hasnt all sunk in yet…
Hi Mini,sorry you have had to join us ,it’s a rollercoaster of emotions at first and it is also very hard to take in all the information you are given.If you can take someone with you to appointments it really helps both for moral support and for someone else to listen and ask questions too as you are not really in a fit state to do so .There is lots of support and advice here .Let us know how you get on .Jill.
Hi Tigony-What you wroteabout the delivery of your diagnosis certainly resonated with me but I’m glad to see you’ve received so much reassurance from the ladies here. After a very gruelling day at the hosp where they kept re-calling me for more tests, I saw a Nurse Practitioner, who gave the impression she enjoyed telling me the news. I got such a shock, no family history whatsoever etc. Even I knew it couldn’t be a conclusive diagnosis until the biopsy results were back but all my references to a definitive diagnosis were met with complete coldness even when I burst into tears, protesting that no way would I have an mx! I was very unfamiliar with BC treatments. Interestingly enough, when she wrote to the GP (copy to me) she wrote how I had another hosp app where my ‘definitive diagnosis’ would be revealed when biopsy results were in. I actually complained about her later.
I had a terrible weekend, didn’t want to tell relatives or friends until the biopsy results and even found myself at one point even thinking about planning my funeral LOL. Sounds hilarious now but at the time it was awful. You made me laught when you wrote about behaving in a reckless manner! That’s how I felt. In the end I gave in and told my SIL who didn’t bat an eyelid! Told me about all the ladies she knew who were doing very well in the face of BC. It helped a lot. It was an entirely different matter when I went back to see the Surgeon and my own assigned BCN who was much more positive.
As others said, once you’ve been given a treatment plan and things are clearer, you’ll feel so much better. I know I did. Keep posting and let us know how you’re doing.
Take care,
Helzie x
Hi everyone, I have just joined this site, having been diagnosed late January whilst living overseas. I found a lump, had my annual mammo and sure enough there it was. I was living in North Cyprus at the time so went to Istanbul for my lumpectomy and node removal (19) on 6 Feb. Thankfully, only one node, the Sentinel was cancerous so I returned to UK on 15 Feb whilst my family sort out the house, dogs etc to move back.
Where I am at the moment. I have seen the General Surgeon who is happy with the surgery site and my range of movement. I did have an infection in the drain site and was on 2000mg of antibiotics for 7 days but that is all sorted now.
I see the breast care cancer nurse this afternoon so she can advise me on what to expect. I am also hoping she has the date for my CT scan. I have been told I can expect to see the Oncologist 1-2 weeks and start chemo then radiotherapy 2-4 weeks. I sit waiting to be told where to go and when but I am totally positive about it. Life will get worse before it gets better but that’s just the way it is. God willing, I will come out the other end a better person for my experience (could have done without it but there you go). To everyone going through cancer…stay positive…together we can beat it. Thanks
Would give yourself 2 weeks recovery time ,a week would be a bit optimistic .
There can be anything from 4 weeks to 12 weeks after op to starting radiotherapy ,depends how you heal and also on busy individual hospitals are.
Today i went for my pre op tests, and I am so healthy for my age thank goodness. Also very grateful today because my aunt, who is 90 and had cancer 30 years ago, has loaned me some money to tide me over so I am not job hunting while I go through surgery etc. I am so grateful and relieved as I was worried sick about letting my youngest down, who is wholly supported by me, and how I was going to pay the lawyer for divorce. Now that anxiety is relieved and I can concentrate on myself for a change. It has been a huge worry, the idea of breaking down and not being able to do my usual juggling act, and youngest suffering as a result. Phew! What a darling aunt I have.
Great that you have had that pressure taken off you ,concentrate on looking after yourself and getting organised as best you can .
There is an extraordinary sense of relief this morning. While I was worrying about what I would say to a new employer about having to take time off (I am a contractor and lost my last contract just before Christmas without warning, which was very stressful on top of breast worries) I had an underlying feeling of panic. When people kept saying, ‘You must look after yourself,’ it just felt like another onerous task. My mind was scattered as I tried to cope with several different areas of panic at once (divorcing my nightmare ex, youngest’s GCSEs, running out of money, new job challenges, letting everyone down, never mind my health…). I felt my short term memory getting dicky, and actually got lost in the hospital as I couldn’t remember the way out. This loan from my aunt has relieved all that. I am no longer scared of everything, and am thinking of nice things to do to distract myself, instead of thinking of applying for jobs. There are two possible jobs in the offing, and I will respond to those, but being more relaxed I am more likely to get one. Honestly I have had a lot of interviews recently, and it has been such an effort concentrating. I must have come across very poorly I think, even if I did put on what my other lovely aunt called, ‘Dr Greasepaint’. Anyway, thank you all of you as ever for commenting. x