Recently Diagnosed & Frightened

Hi x I am post active treatment but was in a similar position in October 2024. I had a large tumour (er+ / her-) and was told at my ultrasound that it was likely to be in 2 nodes (at one point they said 4 or more but it did end up being 2). At the time I felt able to deal with the breast cancer but the node situation floored me. A couple of things that have helped. It’s not uncommon for it to be in the nodes and doesn’t automatically mean that it’s spread. I now get peace of mind that I had the CT and MRI which were thankfully clear however be prepared for possible further tests. My CT showed two dots on my spine, that then meant I needed a bone scan but that was clear and the spots were nothing to worry about. 
Because I was told during the ultrasound that my nodes look suspicious I knew that chemo was on the cards from the beginning. I know of other people that find out after surgery and that can be really tough when they now need to contemplate chemo.

The tests feel endless and waiting for results is really hard. This will be the hardest part, you’ll see numerous people say that once you get your treatment plan you feel more in control and have something to focus on. I found watching Sarah Beeny and Amy Dowden documentaries helped me feel more prepared and reassured. 

I completed my active treatment in summer 2025 and am now on hormone treatment and abemaciclib. Active treatment was no where near as bad as I thought. Chemo was manageable and I did lots before hand to improve my gut health and drank lot of water and stayed activity when I could, I do think that really helped. I then had a mastectomy and lymph node clearance which again was much better than I expected. I am now going through the reconstruction process. 

I did have bad days but during the process I just focused on one treatment at a time and now I look back and realise I was able to carry on with most things and it wasn’t as bad as I expected it was going to be x 

wishing you all the best x

Thank you so much for sharing your story I really appreciate it! It’s really nice to hear positive stories! And as you say, the waiting really is the worst part  once I’ve got my results from both scans, I feel like I’ll be able to process everything a bit better x

Stay strong hun I am same had surgery Friday been waiting since end of august they can work miracles but my advise push and push for everything I’m 33 have a daughter stay strong pleade it’s ok xxxx

Thank you did you have any chemo before your surgery? That’s what they’re planning for me. So scared xxx

Hey! Just want to say I know exactly how you feel! I was diagnosed nearly a year ago. I Was 35 and I was diagnosed with stage two ER and PR positive HER2 negative. They told me after my ultrasound and MRI that my nodes look normal, so I was preparing for them to be completely fine after my lumpectomy and two sentinel nodes were removed. It absolutely floored me when I had the call to say that they found cancer in both the two sentinel nodes, and I also had extra capsular spread where the cancer had spread out of the node capsules. This was the hardest part of all of it for me because I was absolutely terrified that it would’ve spread elsewhere, but luckily I had a CT scan which showed no spread.

I was also completely terrified to start chemotherapy, as originally I was told I just need five years of hormone tablets and radiotherapy. I absolutely sailed through chemotherapy. and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I cold-capped and hardly lost any of my hair as well. I have three monthly injections to switch my ovaries off. I am on hormone blocker therapy for 10 years. I have bone infusions every six months and I’m on ribociclib for three years. don’t get me wrong, every single day I’m worrying all the time it’s either gonna come back or be stage four and I also have a son.

you will be surprised how quickly active treatment goes. which is a really good thing. Try not to Google things because most of it is outdated before the new treatment plans came in. I did find ChatGPT really helped me throughout, as it was able to explain scan results much better than what the letters say. wishing you so much luck and if ever you need to talk about anything or you want to ask any questions, just message me  

Hi thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate hearing your story in such a positive light!  really does help! I’ve had an MRI and Mammogram (luckily my other breast is all clear!) and I am having my CT in a couple of hours! Really hoping it hasn’t spread. I think once I know exactly what I am dealing with I’ll be a lot better. Not looking forward to chemo but have heard that other people say like yourself that it’s not that bad! I suppose everyone does respond differently and I have also heard about cold capping which I will definitely give a go!! Thank you so much