Hi Suemum,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis and understand your concern. Don't worry about how you felt today - we all have ups and downs on this journey. Try to look at the positives, instead of letting your imagination run away with you - hard, I know! If this is stage 1, or even stage 2, then it is eminently treatable. Do you know what type of breast cancer it is? There is no point in beating yourself up about what is past. Not all lumps are cancerous - many turn out to be benign cysts, fibroadenoma, etc. It is a fact that of all those who attend the breast clinic, only 20% will get a cancer diagnosis.

 I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, 15 years ago. Within a year, I found another cancer in the same breast and pre-cancerous calcification in the other. I am fortunate in that I still lead a busy and fulfilling life and there's no reason why you shouldn't too. I am glad to hear that you have a date for surgery. I had previously lost my mum to breast cancer and was terrified of surgery. I really have to say, that the actual surgery was infinitely easier than I imagined.

I shall be thinking of you on 17th and hope that all goes well. Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you for your reply. It seems you have been through a lot yourself and with your poor mum. Yes unfortunately our minds do wonder and I am trying to  keep positive.  The cancer is invasive ductal to the right breast and at the moment is stage 1. The waiting is the worst bit.  I will let you know how things go.  

Kind regards

Sue xx

Hi Suemum

So sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but it sounds like you've caught it early, even if it's Stage 2.  I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2023 (Stage 2, Grade 3) and had a lumpectomy last year (after 6 months of chemo/immunotherapy treatment) followed by a short course of radiotherapy.  I had my first follow-up mammogram last month which has come back clear.  I was a bit like you when I found the lump.  I was seeing my GP regularly for other reasons and when she asked if there was anything else, I mentioned it really just as a "it's probably nothing".  She did an examination in the surgery and referred me to the hospital for further investigation.  It is very hard not to worry, and that period of not knowing I think is the hardest.  I too had a couple of sentinal nodes removed whilst undergoing the lumpectomy so they could do a biopsy but thankfully they came back clear.  The operation itself is very straightforward.  My surgeon did an amazing job and unless you look extremely closely, you wouldn't even know anything had been done.  They will take excellent care of you and from experience they are very considerate of the aesthetics post surgery. 

I know it must feel like an interminable amount of time between diagnosis and surgery date, but (easier said that done, I know), try not to worry.  It's ok to feel scared and it's ok to feel angry and upset too.  But just try to keep yourself occupied and try to keep positive (though at times I wanted to shoot anyone who told me to think positive all the time!).  I can empathise with how you're feeling.  Take some deep, calming breaths and if you can, try to find some online, short meditation audio clips.  That always helped me and settled my mind when it started to run away with itself. 

We are here if you need to rant and shout and get things off your chest. 

Keep us posted with how the surgery goes.  All the best.

Carol 

Thank you Carol for your kind words.

You are all telling me your journey through cancer and as scary as it is, im feeling a bit more relaxed.

I have a lovely family,two girls and a boy, all in their 40s and a lovely husband of 47yrs.  I am the strong one of the family that keeps us all together, so I need to not fall apart. 

I will keep everyone updated. 

Kind regards

Sue xx

Hi Sue,

Thank you for the update. You wouldn't be human if you weren't scared! We all are at this stage. It is reassuring to finally have these results back and they should help your care team to now draw up a treatment path. I am glad to see that you only have to wait until Monday for your appointment. If you have any questions, write them down and take the list with you. You probably won't have many until you have spoken to the consultant, but you will find that you will have more questions for further consultations. Can you bring someone with you on Monday? It is always useful to have a second pair of ears, as we all forget about 85% of what is said, before we leave the hospital grounds.

I look forward to your next update on Monday.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi, I don’t want to hijack Suemum3’s post but I’m in a similar position but stage 2 and need chemo first before the op and haven’t hit menopause yet so need that to be chemically induced too. Your experience sounds closest to me mine. I’m terrified of chemo, will I be able to work? We’re you able to? Any advice of what is realistically possible and what you can do while having chemo would be super helpful. 

High Dodgyboob and loving the name by the way. 

Like you I am scared of chemo and all if it to be honest. I am 68 so probably  someone younger might cope with it better but who am I to know. I have spoken to someone  in their 40s and she said she travel to London the next day and seemed to carry on as normal. But cancer treatments  are tailored to you and it might be a different experience.  Will be thinking of you on your Cancer journey

Love 

Sue xx