I completed treatment for stage 2 breast cancer last year - surgery, chemo, rads and tamoxifen. I really struggled once i’d finished and am still taking tablets for anxiety. I think the main thing I struggled with was not being able to talk to anyone - i felt like i had to hide everything i was feeling and people were totally over hearing about it.
I am on the waiting list to join a Moving Forward group but i wanted to let you know about another really good free online support group i took part in. It’s called ‘Cancer Coach’ and it’s run by a charity called Cancer Support UK. It was all done over Zoom, once a week for 6 weeks and it was me and about 5 other women, most of whom had also had breast cancer. It was really good because it focused on emotional support and mental health, rather than side effects and health eating and exercise, which other groups have been in the past.
It was so great to talk to other people who had bene through the same experience and hear that i am not alone in feeling rubbish! It has made such a difference to how i approach my recovery
I’m still terrified of recurrence but am working hard on accepting these feelings and im still in touch with the other ladies i met on the group which is a great comfort.
If you google their website you can see all the details. Highly recommended!! xx
I am a year post lumpectomy and just went for my mammogram and followup with the onc and have been a bit of a nervous wreck. The mammogram was clear (but can’t help feeling anxious that my original tumour didn’t show up on the mam) but have had some abdo issues so going for some scans.
Going through treatment during Covid meant there were less opportunities to connect with other people and i thought i was coping, but now feel really alone and lost. I went back to work but its really stressing me out but I feel trapped.
Made me realise that I want to reach out for some support, so have registered for the Moving Forward online course and this Cancer Coach one. Thank you again Bigj xxx
Thank you so much for sharing information about that group. I have signed up for it.
I am also finding things tough at the moment. I went through Surgery, chemo and radiotherapy over the last 14 months and now find myself lost.
Although I feel physically stronger, returned to work in April ( on a gradual hour increase return) people think that I am now ok. But I’m not. I feel more lost now than ever.
I had my first mammogram since surgery at the end of July and although it came back as clear, I am panicking inside that the cancer is going to return. But to somewhere else in my body which I won’t know about.
Hopefully that group will calm me down. Although I have thought about speaking to my doctor. But I’m not sure that could help xx