Hi, I received my diagnosis on Thursday and am in complete shock. Had to go back to hospital yesterday for a mammogram and biopsy. They ended up taking 11 pieces of tissue. I was in the mammogram machine for over 40 minutes. It was the most awful experience , I would rather give birth. Having a lumpectomy on the 11th and then radiotherapy. How do people get through these early days? Im wanting to go back to work on Monday as nothing is happening until the 5th. I have so much going on in my head. I never thought this would happen.
Hi
I am so sorry that you have found yourself here, we have all been in the same place as you are at the moment. I was diagnosed in January had lumpectomy in Feb and am now half way through radiotherapy.
It is an awful time your mind will go into overtime and as everyone will tell you once you start your treatment you will feel better.
I went back to work after diagnosis until my surgery , i just wanted to get back to some normality. It worked for me up to a point. You will have days when it feels like its gone away and question why you need to have any treatment and then you will realise that its still there and that it needs to happen. You will hear many people on here say that it is a roller coaster and that is exactly what it is but you will get through this, just take each step one at at a time.
You will have the support of all the lovely ladies on here to get you through each step.
Hope this helps.
Mary x
Hi sonyacheet, So sorry to hear - and the total shock is so understandable. Feels a bit like being hit by a truck and then being shoved onto a roller coaster. Emotions all over the place…normality gone…It rocks your foundations when something like this happens. You said you were ‘in the mammogram machine’ ? Could this have been an MRI scan? Everyone has different methods of coping. Mine was to find out everything I could after the biopsy results and plan for the differing outcomes, as I absolutely have to work to support myself. I had to feel as sure as I can - to be able to deal with whatever treatment would be most applicable. There are so many stages to absolute diagnosis - mammogram, ultrasound, biopsy, MRI scan and then the final pathology results after lumpectomy/mastectomy, which decide on the best treatment plan for the specific diagnosis. Having planed, as much as I could for the varying outcomes - I found it much easier to take in the news and to move forward and accept the treatments I need to recover properly. It also kept my mind busy - but this is not for everyone. It is important that you understand your diagnosis in detail and I would suggest to discuss this with your Breast Cancer Nurse, once the results of your biopsy come back. They really are so helpful and a rock through these difficult times. Remember once you have had your lumpectomy the actual cancer will be gone - the radiotherapy ensures that any rouge cells are killed off. Hope these thoughts are helpful.
Hello Sonyacheet,
Sorry you have had to join us but you have come to the right place. Your experience of having the biopsies taken on the mammo machine sounds horrid. I had several ultrasound biopsies but I was at least lying down and didn’t have my boob clamped at the same time. I still cried the first time - it was possibly the worst day of all. By the sound of things they have been extremely thorough in checking you out so I hope you can take some comfort from that.
Everyone else has given good advice already, especially about not Googling and visiting random sites. The Internet has a lot of information out there - a lot of it out of date - and you can end up reading things that are not applicable to you and frightening yourself unnecessarily. The helpline on this site was very valuable to me and the people you speak to are great and give you lots of time to talk things through.
I was diagnosed on July 21st and have had a mastectomy, reconstruction, chemo and am now on Tamoxifen. I won’t pretend it’s all been a barrel of laughs but it is all doable and not as bad as I’d anticipated. More or less everyone says that the surgery side of things is so much less traumatic than they thought it would be. A lot of wonderful health professionals will be taking good care of you. As many people will say, the stage you are at now is probably the worst while you wait for treatment to begin. I worked in the few weeks lead up to surgery as it took my mind off it, even if only temporarily.
Good luck with it all and let us know how you get on.
Ruth xx
Hi sonyacheet,
as others have said, sorry you find yourself here but you will find lots of support through the wobbles and remember no question is a silly question so don’t be worried about asking it. I was diagnosed in January and delayed my surgery for 2 weeks after initial date given as I had somethings planned I didn’t want to cancel. I worked full time from diagnosis until 3 days before planned surgery and it helped keep my mind focused and ensured I tighten up lose ends. I did have some wobbles at work and a couple of tears moments in the ladies loos!
These early days are not easy as it is like being hit by a high speed train. Just take each day at a time and not read too much all at once and definitely don’t google! Sending you hugs as you start your journey and we are all here to help you if you need us. Xx
Hi Sonyacheet, i was diagnosed in February and had a lumpectomy and 4 lymph nodes removed in March. I worked up until the day before my operation as it kept my mind off things to a certain extent and I only told my closest co-workers about it, although other colleagues were commenting on how tired I was looking which was due to not sleeping well since diagnosis. I did then have to have a re-excision due to unclear margins. I returned to work 2 weeks ago and have just started taking Tamoxifen and will be having radiotherapy. I am not having chemo as it was felt that the benefits were outweighed by the risks. I am now feeling very positive - the cancer has been cut out, the radiotherapy will kill any remaining cells left behind and the Tamoxifen will stop any new cancer growing. I have to believe this and it is what keeps me going. You will feel much better when you have results and a treatment plan as you then feel like you are doing something about it. I did do lots of googling as I like to have all scenarios covered but you can have too much information so it is personal choice how much you want to know. Sending you lots of positive wishes xx