Feeling anxious

[country_bumpkin]

@adoptedmanc 

My post op appointment is on 17th November so I guess I will find out then how long my radiotherapy will be. Initially I was told 15 sessions, then 5-7 sessions. 

CB x

[adoptedmanc]

@country_bumpkin 

My radiotherapy didn’t start until I was well healed from my surgery, around 10 weeks after. My oncologist decided I should have the 15 session course. More than happy to discuss further in due course. 
I can totally understand you wanting to “get all this out of the way”, I was exactly the same! I think the best advice I had was to take everything one step and stage at a time, and concentrate on tomorrow and your recovery from the surgery. 
Xxx

[country_bumpkin]

@Charys thank you so much 🤗

I will be fine. Thanks for all the reassuring & positive words 🥰

Much love 

CB x

[country_bumpkin]

@adoptedmanc thank you so much.

I've got this 😀 Thus time 2moro my surgery will be done.😁

How long after your surgery did your radiotherapy start? Was it a 5 day course?

Much love

CB x

[delly]

Hi country bumpkin

Yeh, you wouldn't be human if you didn't feel apprehensive. Can so understand your anxiety/apprehension. However, I'm totally with bookish. Both my ops were mastectomies with full ANC. The anaesthetists were totally brill, so calming and reassuring. Just placed myself in the trusted hands of the experts, had the best sleep EVER, woke up snuggled in warmed blankets to the best tea and toast I'd ever tasted!! 😊 I could not believe I'd just been through major surgery.

Am soo wishing you well for tomorrow, and sending you love and speedy recovery wishes

Delly xXx

Ps. - Charys - Well "Hellooo" stranger. I so Hope you are wel, dear girl. xXx

[adoptedmanc]

Hello @country_bumpkin 

I’ve just been reading through your post and it sounds very much like your diagnosis is pretty much the same as mine. 
I had a lumpectomy and SNB (including magseed and nuclear injection) back in July. I’ve just finished my course of radiotherapy. 
I can’t add anything much to the wonderful advice already given: you are in the hands of professionals who know precisely what they are doing: I was told (because I asked) that my surgery was pretty much the easiest and most common one they do if that helps at all. 
I hope everything goes well for you tomorrow 

xxx

[Charys]

Hiyer,

I was a mess before my lumpectomy surgery, totally and utterly terrified to the point that I had to use every ounce of my strength to get through the weeks preceeding and was given some sedatives to use if I needed them. I even had to have a private meeting with the anaethetist as part of trying to process the fear, my posts from that period are on this forum - showing I was paralysed with fear. Well - guess what - it was all done and dusted within a couple of hours and I was home by lunchtime in a deliriously excitable state because I was fine (had survived lol), had got through it and the cancer was taken away. This surgery, as someone said below is a life-saver. These are incredibly skilled, highly educated people doing this work day in and day out, they have a gift to give that in the past wouldn't have been imaginable - to stop you having a progressive cancer. My lumpectomy (grade 3 cancer) and rt was now 5 and a half years ago, and I have just been discharged from the breast clinic, having had my 5th and final 'all clear' mammo results.

Its awful, just awful the place your head goes to leading up to this - but I am here to tell you that it will be over so quickly and you will be able to move forward renewed and with less fear 🙂

[country_bumpkin]

@bookish your words are so true - thank you 😊 

[country_bumpkin]

Hey thanks for your reply. 

I too want this out of my body. My head is just over thinking the whole situation. 😩 

The whole thing is such a whirlwind!! One day you are happily getting on with your life, the next you are being told you have BC!!

I must pull my positive pants on and get on with things 😀

Much love

CB x

[country_bumpkin]

Thank you so much for your kind words of reassurance 😊 It's a lumpectomy I'm having with nuclear injection beforehand.

I guess I just need to stop everthinking 🤗

Will go and have a bath to get myself chilled out.😍

CB x

[bookish]

@country_bumpkin You wouldn't be human if you weren't anxious, it's entirely normal. Jaybro has summed things up so well, but let me add a comment one of my friends made to me before my op: all you have to do is show up. You get to have a nap while someone else - someone who does this day in day out - does all the work. You've got the easy job 😉

You'll be on the path to recovery so soon. Hang in there! xx

[lovethelakes]

Hi 

Just wanted to try and reassure you about lumpectomy too in case that is the surgery you’re having on Monday.  I had a lumpectomy about a month ago and had hardly any pain, didn’t even have to take paracetamol and was home the same day. Everyone was so kind and caring and I felt very safe in their hands.  Best of all was the huge mental boost it gave me to be rid of ‘it’ at last and I hope after surgery you’ll feel that too.   

[Jaybro]

Hi

I remember all too well that apprehension but remember this is the start of life-saving treatment. You didn’t say what kind of surgery you’re having (lumpectomy, mastectomy with or without reconstruction, with or without axillary clearance) so I can’t suggest how it will be but everyone is well aware of how scared we all are. The anaesthetist will visit you and probably ask the questions you’ve already answered but reassure you. You may be offered an early sedative if you are extra anxious but, as far as I recall, my anxiety had peaked by then. I was in my hospital gown, it was going to happen so…The surgeon will also visit you and draw on you with a biro (it’s very high-tech at that stage). 

Next thing, you’ll be coming round and wheeled back to the ward. I was lucky and went home the same day, though I’d had a mastectomy and full axillary clearance. It would be a good idea to ask the surgeon if you’re likely to have a drain attached because that was a big surprise to me and it took me days to work out how best to deal with it (my hospital didn’t supply a carry bag) so there was a lot of hilarity as well as some frustration. I didn’t have great pain, more discomfort as the wound healed. You’ll also be given a series of exercises that are absolutely essential to maintain the flexibility of your breast muscle and prevent a frozen shoulder initially but, 3 years on, I’ve neglected those exercises and I’m paying the price!!

Make sure you wear loose clothing and shoes you can slip into. You won’t like leaning forward for a bit. Your tops and pjs need to be front-opening to make getting dressed easier. I borrowed a couple of my husband’s less-worn shirts to see me through. That’s about it. You then wait for the results and your treatment plan. There’s no point second-guessing this part of it. Focus on getting better physically.

You can spend the weekend zoning out to Progressive Hypnosis videos on YouTube, which helped me tremendously. You may already have your own anxiety-reducing techniques. Now’s the time to keep your mind away from Monday.

All the best. Remember it’s necessary and for the best,

Jan xx

[country_bumpkin]

Hi everyone,

Gosh I am feeling so anxious today and very tearful. My surgery is on Monday 1st. 

I am so on edge and the affect this all has on your head can be overwhelming.  Im normally a very stable person but that's all gone to pot at the moment.

When hubby asks me questions like "what's wrong" I feel like blowing my top. My bloody world has turned upside down and you ask me what's wrong 🤬🤬 He is so very supportive and is my rock..... but just sometimes.......aaaahhhh!!!

Sorry for offloading all this! I guess my head is just in the wrong place. I will pull myself out of it 😪