Have T3 tumor am a bit shocked. Lump is really deep so hadn’t felt anything. The surgeon can’t either. Was randomly invited for screening which thank god I went to as I’m not quite 47. Haven’t told the kids yet. Surgery booked for a couple of weeks time and they will do lymph node biopsy too. Then radio therapy and possibly chemo when they know more about what type of cancer it is.
Reading some of the threads had been supportive and I’m struck by the kindness of strangers
Hi FF
Welcome to the forum although sorry you had to join. it’s a horrible time, the waiting room and for me was worse than the diagnosis. Once you’ve had surgery they’ll be able to confirm the size, grade and type of cancer and then you’ll get your treatment plan, you’ll start to feel much better once you have all the information, it makes such a difference. I’m currently undergoing chemo and it’s honestly not as bad as I feared, the hair loss is obviously the thing you think about with chemo but you even get used to that, it’s definately doable so please don’t be afraid of it, the the thought is far worse than the reality. Are you having a mastectomy or WLE (lumpectomy)? Let us know how you get on.
Take care
Lydia x
Hi there - I am new here too and like you still finding my feet. I was diagnosed a few weeks ago after finding a lump - miraculosly it seems as everyone has had touble feeing it and the Mamogram didn’t see it! I am only 41 with no family history so everything pointed to benign. It wasn’t and I have a mastectomy and lymph node removal next tuesday. Chemo will follow and possible radiotherapy. I have 2 children (age 5 and 10) and we told them once all the tests had been done and we knew what was going to happen. This was one of the things I worried about most but we used the advice leaflets (available on this site and from the Breat Cancer Nurses) and they took it pretty well. I have also informed the school so they can keep and eye on things. Parents was tough too and some friends but now everyone who needs to know, knows it is much easier. I know we shouldn’t worry about such things but I do!
Lets beat this together!
Hello,
Sorry to hear that you have had to join us. I too am 47 and found a lump last August. I have come out the other side of surgery, chemo and then finished radiotherapy just yesterday.
I don’t know how old your children are, but when I had to tell my 5-year old, the hospital lent me a book called Mummy’s Lump. You can download a PDF of it. I think it is aimed at children upto the age of 10 and it explains everything very well. My daughter especially liked the picture of mummy in hospital and the children sitting on her bed eating the chocolates. I also told my dd’s teacher, although she has coped very well with a mummy not being at full strength.
I hope your family are looking after you well.
Sue
Hi FF I am five weeks post op following mx and snb I was referred by my doctor because I said my breast felt different from the other one no lump pain or anything else lucky for me the doctor decided to refer me to the breast clinic to be on the safe side I am so glad she did. The way I dealt with it was too take one step at a time I concentrated on the op and then the recovery and once I had the results of the snb was able to focus on the treatment - dealing with this in bite sizes pieces worked for me as I found concentrating on all the possbilities was blowing my brain - I would agree that the waiting is the worst but as has already been said once you have the information it seems that you have some control back. I have four young children (6 to 10) and being a single parent I decided that I would tell them everything as having no near family I had to take them to the clinic with me for all the appointments (in the initial stages i did not want friends or work to know) - but once the diagnosis was made I then made a decision to tell everybody! You know your children best but the book recommended by sue above is the one i used and it was very good at explaining everything clearly. If you decide to tell your children I would also recommend letting their school know - I saw the headteacher to explain to her and she let each child’s individual teacher know - it reassured me that someone was keeping an eye on the children whilst they were at school. Sending my best wishes Alex