dont panic till you know all the facts, it can be many things..hold onto that fact, hopefully a cyst or other, write some questions down for when you go, and dont go alone. stay positive, and hopefully your results are ok. it is a worry for you. lots of people on here probably had the same thing, or you can click on ask the nurse, there very good.

Thank you both very much for your supportive words, I am leaving the house in ten minutes for the hospital and what you said helped

thanks again 

XXX

Home from my tests and the news was not ideal, I have most probably got a cancer in my right breast 2.6cm and also thickening or something else in my underarm area! yes that last one is the real sickener but odly right this moment I am coping with the emotions ok...I dont know why I get the full results on wednesday and he is already talking about the operation he will do so there is little doubt in my mind.

I found everyone to be absolutely lovely in the hospital I was shaking like crazy the whole time a shock reaction I think which must have made the job harder for them but they were just great.  I had mammagrams scan and the six biopsies which was not pleasant but wasnt dreadful and while I am sore and stiff now I am not in a lot of pain so I think I am very lucky all things considered.

that last sentence sounds a bit daft even to me lol

hi andrea11,  glad you know a bit more now then, give yourself time to get used to it all, its a big thing , look after yourself. x

Hi Andrea 11,

I am in a similar position to you, we even share a first name. My husband found a lump in my left breast I went to the Dr she said it was a 3cn solid mass attached to muscle wall that looked "very concerning". She referred me for ultrasound and mammogram on Monday morning and to a breast surgeon as she said she thought I would be needing one so best to get going. I'm not mentioning anything to my kids as one is in their final year of school, another final year of university and one lives abroad. My husband is very supportive but worried because he fears he might lose his job and thus our heakth insurance as the company he works for may go under. He also lost his parents at an early age and is very emotionally dependant on me. I feel like im about to mess up the lives of those closest to me.

i instinctively feel that sharing with others in the same boat is the way to go I feel able to be honest about how I feel without burdening anyone. i already feel better fot typing this even though its the first time I have cried about it. Strange but true!

Hi Andrea and thanks for your reply which mode me feel a lot less alone in this x

I go back to the hospital today to get the full results and the surgeon and consultant will be there to discuss the way to deal with this, I feel lucky that things are moving swiftly and that I have my husband close emotionally and physically.

Like you one of my concerns is telling the children, I have three a son who is ill disabled and can not have stress due to a brain issue, he lives with his wife and I have to choose my moment to tell him very carefully indeed.  My two daughters are tricky too. One had her wedding day last saturday and they just flew off on honeymoon so naturally I did not tell them yet and I really want to leave it as long as I can so they dont have a memory of coming back from honeymoon and finding out I had cancer :(

My other daughter lives and works away from me but we are very close, she talks about me being her best friend and I feel that too we talk every day and she is still extremely dependant emotionally on me and in fact she is my biggest worry.  She has suffered with severe depression in the past and one of her issues was my dieing so naturally the news I need to break is going to be traumatic.  I need to find a time to tell her when I have a weekend with her to help her accept it etc.

My partner is incredible he is amazingly supportive and I feel his strength is a massive help.  I know how very lucky I am to have him here

I am self employed so financially this illness is a bit of a disaster, but Im determined to do all I can to work when I can and am pretty heartbroken that the business I have built the last few years which will not run without me is about to fall down like a house of cards just as it reached its best.

Today I get the prognosis and at the moment I feel strong but frightened, I hope to return here and keep getting and hopefully giving support XXXX

Hi Andrea and Andrea

I was in exactly the same position as you In June / July this year and was diagnosed with breast cancer on th July .. It is an emotional roller coaster time for you and the waiting for the 'next appointment, scan,op, etc' is the worst thing, Your mind automatically goes to worst case scenrio when the dreaded 'C' word is mentioned. I suffer from anxiety already and was in a complete mess from diagnosis and terrified of the future . I have a partner and a 10 year old son and not sure I could have got through it wthout them.

I just wanted you to know that there is the other side of this and you will get there, if someone had told me 5 months ago what was about to happen I'd have been certain that I would have been in a little padded cell now. The process after diagnosis is quick and you get a treatment plan set out very early on so you are aware at every step what is going on. I found nothing was too much trouble for anyone from the consultant, breast care nurse etc so use them as much as you need to. I had 2 lumps very close together so had an MRI to check which op I would need. Had a lumpectomy on 1st Aug and found out just over a week later I was cancer free I had had mid grade stage 2 breast cancer. Chemotherapy wasn't recommended, but had 20 sessions of radiotherapy and am on Anastrozole for 5 years, which will probably end up being 10, and a monthly hormone injection.

Telling those close to you is hard but it is amazing how relieved you feel when they know and they are what get you through the tough days. I was so worried about telling my son as one of the young lads in his class lost his mum to advanced cancer just a month before. Obviously it was discussed a lot in class and had us all very upset at the time. He was very upset when I did actually tell him and did ask some hard questions, because I had a treatment plan in place we were completely honest with him though so he knew what was going to be happening over the summer. He was worried but supportive in his own way, even managing to still be alseep at 9.20am on the day of my op ( this never happens by the way he is an early bird !!)

I am hoping for positive news for you today and if I can give you any advice feel free to ask absolutely anything .. One tip I received very early on was answering the question that everyone asks 'Don't know how you're coping ?!?' Coping as if eh .... Good response is ' I am not coping I am ENDURING each day now, I am getting up in the morning doing what needs to be done then going to bed in the evening, to repeat the next day and as long as I can do that I will make it '

Sending loads of positive vibes and love your way, you are strong and you will kick cancers *** !!

Claire

xxx

Hi Claire and thanks for the encouraging words ((hugs))

I was supposed to have an appontment with the surgeon consultant etc today but the hospital has been hit by a cyber attack so my full results and all people needed to make the decision were not available... naturally we are upset but we did get an appointment and the results they do have they gave us.

I have cancer in my breast 2.6cm and also there are cancer cells in my underarm lymph nodes.  The full appointment which will give me a treatment plan will now happen next wednesday so I have another week to get through.  I dont blame the hospital but it is pretty dreadful, how could someone deliberatly attack a hospital computer system!!! I have no idea how those people sleep at night.

Anyway we are staying positive We asked how aggresive the cancer is and its a stage 2.  Im told its likely that I will be given chemo to shrink the cancer before surgery and that a lumpectomy is likely with surgery to the armpit as well.

feeling ok tonight but still cant really take it in and cant work out how much this is going to affect my ability to live a normal life with part time work etc Im guessing I will be exhausted and lose my hair but I will do some research to find out how this is going to feel over the next months

love to all here

Andrea X

Hi Andrea

What an awful thing to happen and yet more waiting for you ... As i said once you know the treatment plan you have something to aim for and can get an insight into what you have ahead of you, Have you had an MRI yet, I had one of these to determine exact size of lumps and to see if lumpectomy was possible.

I still don't think I've taken it in to be honest with you, its like your on a escalator which just keeps going and you get swept along with it.

All you've said seems like they are very positive so here's hoping that the further results confirm all this next week so you can start the path ahead and kicking cancers butt !! Sounds like you are quite positive too, so well done you and continue to get support from who ever and when ever you need it.

In relation to you worries about time off as you know I didn't have to have chemo, which I know can be debilitating for some, but the only time I have had off of work was for the many hospital appointments, I had a week off for the operation and time off daily for the radiotherapy sessions (my hospital is 90 minutes away from where I live so on average was a 3.5 hour round trip) I still managed to work for 7 hours most days but was in bed by 7.30 ish most nights.

Keep strong and sending loads of love your way.

Claire

xx