Well here I am didn’t think I would be doing this guess I not in the movies or in a dream this as really happened to me. I was diagnosed 3 weeks before Christmas I had breast cancer, my left breast the tumour was 1cm in size. So after everything was explained to me what was going to happen next, My family and I were left with this news. So we got on with Christmas in the weeks a head of my pending operation I explained to my place of work and my work colleges who all were stunned and not sure how to react. Though I did have lots of hugs. So moving forward to now I had my wide local excision also had some lymph nodes removed this was done on the 8th Jan so now in recovery mode, waiting for my results which will be 23rd Jan. So what now.
You sound very pragmatic. You reminded me of myself last Christmas - I cancelled everything since my first chemo was Christmas Eve, but I had no family to consider. Be prepared for a lot of fear among your loved ones and friends. There is so much misinformation around and so much alarmist thinking - we usually see the worst of it all. But the survival rate for breast cancer is over 90% now, which is brilliant. Focus on that, rather than on the big fear we all have to go through.
What now? You DO YOUR EXERCISES. I can’t stress that enough (being a shirker who is paying a bit of a price), you talk openly with your friends and family, you and everyone you know avoid Google like it’s the plague and you hope. The latest surgery findings will determine your treatment plan, which might well have been discussed today (Friday seems popular for multi-discipline team meetings).
If your nodes are affected, you may need more surgery and/or chemotherapy. I was terrified and I got through it (as if that helps you. Basically I’m saying it’s bearable, often it’s not that big a deal if you’re lucky). You’ll probably have radiotherapy, again something people react to differently (I thought it was a doddle) and you’ll have hormone therapy of some kind, depending on your age. Whatever your treatment, you are going to need a lot of support so remember all those offers of help and ask - you’ll be surprised at how many people will be willing to transport you hither and thither, fetch prescriptions, cook you food etc. But you do have to ask because people are very scared by this particular illness and don’t like to tread on toes. I learnt so much about the nature of true friendship this past year.
I hope you get the best of the bad news and wish you well with whatever lies ahead.