Hello Jem - I'm sorry to hear you've joined the club. I hope I can give you some hope from the other side. I finished radiotherapy yesterday having had a bilateral mastechtomy and reconstruction in October. I would say I'm back-to-normal in the sense that I can do everything again that I could before diagnosis... and I feel 100 times "better". I didn't know there was anything wrong with me before, but comparing how I feel now to how I felt a year ago, there was definitely something wrong.... I'm 47 and, like you, was floored by my diagnosis - then came anxiety all the what ifs and I panicked at every twinge or new pain... looking back, I'd agree with other comments that the bit before you get your surgery date is by far the worst part, and waiting on the results of the pre-tests - as JJ73 says it gets better after that and you do find the capacity to cope - just take it one day at a time and don't put any pressure on yourself to feel or behave a certain way - everyone has their own way of coping. The one piece of invaluable advice I was given at the start was don't Google... I didn't until after my op and I'm very glad I didn't - I would have been terrified and nothing was as bad as I read 

Hello Jem - I'm sorry to hear you've joined the club. I hope I can give you some hope from the other side. I finished radiotherapy yesterday having had a bilateral mastechtomy and reconstruction in October. I would say I'm back-to-normal in the sense that I can do everything again that I could before diagnosis... and I feel 100 times "better". I didn't know there was anything wrong with me before, but comparing how I feel now to how I felt a year ago, there was definitely something wrong.... I'm 47 and, like you, was floored by my diagnosis - then came anxiety all the what ifs and I panicked at every twinge or new pain... looking back, I'd agree with other comments that the bit before you get your surgery date is by far the worst part, and waiting on the results of the pre-tests - as JJ73 says it gets better after that and you do find the capacity to cope - just take it one day at a time and don't put any pressure on yourself to feel or behave a certain way - everyone has their own way of coping. The one piece of invaluable advice I was given at the start was don't Google... I didn't until after my op and I'm very glad I didn't - I would have been terrified and nothing was as bad as I read 

Hi 

many many thanks for your reply and all the ladies it is such an incentive to stay strong and try to stay positive when I hear the feedback from you all.

I haven't googled, think I already knew that it would mess my head up even more.

I've got an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday.

many thanks once again.

Jo