MRI scan soon, diagnosed with grade 1 breast cancer

Hi Ria   I am sorry you are going through this. Assuming surgery is a lumpectomy, you will probably get over it pretty quickly. I was up and about as normal the day after mine. I had planned a holiday the following week and was easily able to do that with all the walking involved. Sometimes people aren’t allowed to drive for a couple of weeks depending on location of incision etc. I was allowed to drive after 48 hours so no problem. I would definitely have been able to work after the first day or so. 

You don’t mention whether your cancer is oestrogen positive. If it is, and if your HER2 result is negative, you won’t necessarily need chemo particularly as you say it’s a grade 1. Either way, take it a step at a time. Chemo is quite doable for most people. 

Thanks for replying Codfish. I haven’t got the HER results as yet but I hope to get it next week. It’s very comforting to hear about your experience. I have all sorts of thoughts ranging from planning the summer holiday to losing my hair to chemo. I try my best but I can’t think straight. 
My MRI is tomorrow and I hope the cancer hasn’t spread more. 
I hope I can get the date for the surgery sooner and start the recovery. No one ca understand the emotional tsunami that we go through when you are told that you have cancer. I am struggling a lot mentally at times . I wake up in the morning and the first thought I have is that I have cancer. 

Hey lovely, I'm sorry you're going through this and sending you a hug. I'm in a similar boat as you really having only got my diagnosis a week ago (although they think my lump is more like 2+cm so not sure grade or stage yet). But like you I got two kids (I'm assuming yours is young) and awaiting MRI. It's helping to use my CBT learning to delay worries until day of scan. I can see from the timestamp that you've already had your scan. If it helps, come back and update us and I'm happy to stay in touch with you as on a similar journey.

Thanks Vera, thanks for your support. Yes I have a young child. I had my MRI on Monday and the results are likely in 2 weeks. I haven’t received the HER results still so I am assuming once all the results are in, the hospital will call us to discuss the treatment. My ex manager had lumpectomy and radio therapy in Australia. She is Australian and is based in Sydney. She said her lump was around our size too but there are so many other factors. 
tbh I just want to get lumpectomy done quickly and followed by radio therapy. My heart sinks when I think about chemo therapy - losing my hair and feeling sick. 
I just don’t have focus these days and I am constantly worried what my diagnosis is actually. It’s so much to take in and I work full time so it’s like this thought eating me up. I am travelling for a conference on the weekend but I have fear, anxiety and depression. It’s so difficult to feel normal. I built this life with hard work and now I feel once I tell work that I am going to be off for surgery , my growth prospects will be clamped. I think most corporates are supportive on the face of it but they do find a reason to put you and your career on hold if you have terminal sickness. 
My confidence is gone and all I think is chemo, losing hair and everything I worked for. 
my family is very supportive and I love my kid more than anything but this cancer reveal has crushed me. 
j can’t stop crying, I know people are worse off than me and I am lucky God gave me this life and my kid but cancer has destroyed my mind and heart. 
I try to stay positive but it’s hard. 

Oh dear Ria, don't forget that lots and lots of women get through cancer treatment and go on to live long, if slightly different paced and centred, lives. This is the challenge - workplaces are still in the mindset of cancer being a death sentence or a retirement illness, but more and more people especially women of childbearing and cerreer progression age, are navigating it with professional needs on the other side. I get it the desire to think about worst case scenarios you can have a grasp of (loss of job) but that's the body trying to keep busy. It might help to chat with the macmillan advice line or see if you can join a cancer online forum just to talk to other folks on the other side. I went to a local macmillan centre and it was so lovely. So much laughter and people talking about their work. It sounds like your work is corporate and that's hard, I do agree that corporate settings are less focused on the person and their career development than, say, sectors that are human focused (charity sector) or right on their disability and HR structures (public). If worst comes workwise do consider bringing your skills to another sector. Maybe it's like AA where people lose jobs and have to rebuild, but networking with fellow survivors helps them find a new path. I just sent a linked in message to another woman who'd been diagnosed under 50 and had kids and a high kicking job in our wider sector. Just to see if she wants to be in touch. Maybe see if others in your sector have gone through this and reach out to them? Maybe that could help. But yeah, I get you hard. When your work path is yours and precious it's scary, but you had a kid so you know how to become a new you!

Hi Ria 

I am older than you and was semi retired when it all happened. I had been a very senior executive in a global corporation but had taken early retirement and was mixing consultancy with some non exec positions and voluntary work. Once I knew I would be having chemo, I rowed back on the consultancy and in the end closed the business. On the non execs I turned up in my wig and didn’t tell a soul. Mostly men and I don’t think anyone noticed. Voluntary things I mostly told people and got a lot of support. 

I often wondered what I would have done had I still be in my old job. I think I would have worried about being sidelined. It happened also when I first had children. I think I might have been tempted to only tell what I needed to tell. My situation is of course complicated by me being metastatic but stable. 

Just thought of something - I only got my HER2 results (negative) by calling the oncology nurse who was part of the team that gave me the results. She was really really reassuring as well. I wouldn't trust the NHS to call you with good news so do give them a call and see if the results have come in. Not knowing is the worst, but knowing means you'd be on a quicker treatment pathway. Chemo does sound scary but people get through it. One day at a time I suppose. There's a lot of complementary therapy, and foods that help with recovery. So if you have to go down that road, you'll get through it and your hair will grow back. X