Hi Amg,

A very warm welcome to our forum. I am sorry to hear about your worries, but take a deep breath and remember that 'it isn't cancer until you're told that it is' and, no amount of worry will change the outcome. Just because a lesion is biopsied doesn't always mean bad news. Biopsy is used as much to rule out cancer as it is to find it. It is a known fact that only 1 person in every 8 referred to the clinic will get a cancer diagnosis.

It is only natural to think of your son straight away. I felt the same when I was first diagnosed. I have 2 children who are now adults. At the time they were teenagers. Naturally, I thought that I would never see them grow up. That was 12 years ago. Since then I have had a second bout, but I have been blessed to see them finish school, go to university, graduate, get gainful employment, marry and have a family of their own. I still live a busy and fulfilled life. What I'm saying that even with a cancer diagnosis, life goes on. Breast cancer is one of the most treatable forms of cancer today.

Try if you can, to look at this in a more positive light - this will make it easier to deal with. Even if you get the dreaded diagnosis, your consultant seems confident that it is treatable. Whatever you do, don't start looking things up on the internet until you know what you are dealing with. At present you don't know, but the internet will lead you to the more spectacular cases and scare you out of your mind.

Have you been told when your results should be back? Try to keep yourself busy in the meantime. You will find sleep hard to come by at present, as our imaginations tend to go into overdrive and, lead us to all sorts of dark places - fortunately, this seldom turns out to be the case. Please keep intouch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

I've got my fingers crossed for good news.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Amg

I hope my post doesn't show twice, I've just typed out a reply but don't know where it went. So here goes again.

I've no words of wisdom on how to cope with the next week or so, but I just wanted to reach out and connect with you and let you know I understand what you're going through as I'm going through the same. I felt a lump in my left armpit a few weeks ago and the GP referred me to the breast clinic. The appointment was today. I had a mammogram, the consultant had a good feel amd then an ultrasound. They also found a lunonin my left breast which was news to me, as I hadn't felt that. I had 7 biopsy samples taken from 2 sites; armpit and breast. They mentioned calcification in the area, but I'm not sure what that means and I was a bit too dumb founded at the time to ask (I wasnt expecting biopsies). They then sent me off to see a dedicated breast care nurse. So like you, I feel extremely anxious. Im 42 and have 2 sons under the age of 9 and keep getting emotional thinking of them and my husband. I'm usually the type of person who doesn't worry about anything until I know I need to worry, but my brain is being a total dick and flashing every worse case scenario into vision. 

I just wanted to say that if you want an anonymous friend to off load to or talk to who knows how terrifying this is, I'm here.

Hello jolamine, 

Thank you for your kind words,  I'm sure your children are really proud of what you have overcome and dealt with over the years.

I had my diagnosis a couple of days ago however they did not tell me the type of cancer other than it was 1cm and my lymph node biopsy is clear  I will be having a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy and maybe some chemotherapy depending after that.

I just want the surgery out of the way now, everything the surgeon said was really positive, I feel I don't know enough info about which type etc etc until my next appointment. He advised me not to worry and looking at the results he has so far nothing would change with it over the next few months whatever that means. 
 

it is the shock I am still dealing with, so much to process xx 

Hello LJ1979

ive just realised I've not responded back to you. 
 

I hope that your doing ok since your last post, it's so worrying and lots of information and things to take in within a short space of time. 
 

Just want to wish you lots of luck xx 

Hi Amg122

Thanks for checking in. I went to see the consultant this morning. He confirmed I've got breast cancer. They've not yet had my HER2 results yet. He said I've got 2 large tumours, top of the left breast and the left lymph node. Because it would have spread from to the lymph node from the breast, I now need a CT amd PET scan to make sure it hasn't spread elsewhere. I had some bloods taken, I'm sure it was to check for kidney and liver function? To be honest, I hit information overload pretty soon into the appointm and not sure if I retained the information correctly. He did say until they have all the information they can't give me a treatment plan yet, but he's said I'm probably looking at chemo to shrink them and then surgery.

So today has been a roller coaster to say the least.

How are you feeling after your diagnosis? Is it sinking in or feeling like.its not happening? Have you spoken to your little one about it? The breast care nurse gave me a mcmillan goody bag full of info including a book on how to talk to children. Me and my hubby are trying to get our heads around it before we talk to the boys (age 9 and 6) but we will at some point soon.

Take care my lovely xxxx

Hi LJ1979,

Im so sorry that you have also had a diagnosis, I thought about you today and hoped you'd be all clear. 
 

I know exactly what you mean about the rollercoaster, it's like it's a really terrible dream and you can't wake up from it. My partner came to my appointment with me and I'm so glad he was able to take the information in as I can't remember most of what was said I was sat in complete shock thinking this is not really happening to me. 
Yes regarding your boys I think you and your husband both need to digest what's happening a little bit first, my little boy is 9 what I have decide to say so far to him is that I need to have a little operation to remove something and maybe some other treatment to make sure it's fully gone away, to be honest he was very matter of fact about it and hasn't really mentioned it since. 
I feel different emotions as the days go on, I feel really guilty today as I feel like I'm trying my hardest to pretend that everything is ok for his sake but I know I'm not being my usual self as I cannot stop thinking about everything. 
I have also looked at another site called breast cancer now which I have found quite helpful lots of other ladies going through similar and I've even called their nurses team a couple of times too at the weekend and I've found that good.

Be kind to yourself, take one step at a time that's the advice I keep getting it annoys me but I know it's what I need to do!

lots of love xxx 
 

Hi Amg,

Thank you for the update, although I'm so sorry that it wasn't the news you wanted to hear. You may find that your emotions now change to anger and why me? Again both are perfectly normal.

On the whole, it sounds as if the news is as good as it gets. It has been caught early and is treatable and, your surgeon seems to believe that it is the type of cancer that won't throw up further surprises following surgery, or further investigation. After your lumpectomy, the tissue removed will be send to Pathology. This is to ensure that your surgeon has managed to get a clear margin around the lesion after your operation. The pathologist will look at the size, weight and appearance of this tissue.

Your pathology results will show more information than you get from a scan, as your tissue will be examined under a microscope. They will also tell you what type and grade of breast cancer you have and, whether or not it is an agressive or less invasive type of cancer. These tests can also determine if there has been any spread to lymph nodes.These factors will help your care team to decide on whether or not you need chemo as well as radiotherapy. I may be wrong, but I expect that this is what your surgeon was referring to, as, occasionally changes found in the pathology results, can alter the course of treatment later on.

Do you have any idea of when you are likely to have your operation? I can understand your desire to get surgery out of the way, now that you know what you are dealing with. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on and, remember that we are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Amg

It's been a long time since I was on this site but just wanted to check in and see how you're getting on xxxx

Hello LJ1979

i hope that you are doing well, I am ok thank you, I am currently on my 12th week of chemo then I have 3 cycles of EC & am due to finish next month. 
 

how are you getting on? Xxx