Came as a shock and knocked me for six. 2cm lump found grade 1. Surgery on 27th to remove lump plus test lymph nodes. Then waiting and worrying what to expect.
Hi Aly
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis , I too have recently found out I have stage 1 Invasive ductal carcinoma .
Mine was picked up on a mammogram and at present is only 5mm , plan is same as yours remove affected area plus lymph nodes , radiotherapy & oestrogen therapy .
It is a shock & very scary , Im not too sure how I feel right now its my second time round as Iv already had a mastectomy on my right side with recon … I got through that by using every support opportunity available , I used all the hospital services , counselling ,holistic sessions , joined a group run by macmillan , had a make up session in Maggies … and obviously this wonderful forum !
All the above and generally just trying to stay as normal as possible got me through .
Utilise this site Aly and just pour your feelings out , there will always be someone hearing you xxx
Hi Aly
I’m sorry to say welcome to the forums but you are in the right place. Please don’t be put off by regulars dropping all sorts of weird and confusing terminology - it’s mostly what we pick up from our experience of cancerworld and its very specialist language, most of which, after 4 years, leaves me flummoxed.
The important thing is that you go at your own pace. Some people want to know as much as their oncologists which presumably gives them a greater sense of control over their condition and treatment. Others like me know that some details would scare me sh*tless so adopt the Ostrich approach and let their team just get on with what has to be done. Whichever you choose, please stay away from Google - it’s guaranteed to throw up information totally irrelevant to you, out of date, downright scary at times. Ask your breast care nurse, oncologist, surgeon, GP, the nurses’ support line at the number above (excellent service), just don’t ask Dr Google.
I’m not going to scare you with more cancer language but just tell you the very basics - grade 1 means your cancer has been caught very early. Grade 3 would be more scary. When my second diagnosis after ‘I don’t think you have anything to worry about’ was probable grade 1, I was offered the minimum of surgery and hormone treatment after that. The grade measures your tumour, the stage measures how far along your breast cancer has developed on a scale of 1-4. Your bc has been caught early so, unless they discover more information to change it, your progress should be simple. The check on the lymph nodes is to ensure your bc hasn’t started to spread, but that’s the whole purpose of lymph nodes - to catch and contain germs and viruses and other nasty cells from going any further. Thank heavens for lymph nodes. Your main node (the sentinel lymph node) and a couple of others will be tested just in case. It IS more of a routine check than a worrying diagnosis.
Obviously it’s not ‘simple’ to you. Just the thought of bc sends us into a tailspin. The only thing you can do right now while you wait is work on your emotions. By all means feel the worry but work on your resilience so you can deal with things with greater confidence. Meditation, mindfulness, running, baking, pampering - anything that will give you a bit of a break from the fretting. It really pays off. I’ve been plugging into YouTube videos by Progressive Hypnosis for 4 years and am sure it’s how I got past the initial horror of breast surgery (I’d never been physically ill in my life) and everything that followed.
Wishing you all the best for simple surgery and a gentle treatment plan
Jan x