Hello everyone,
I’m new to the community.
Yesterday, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it has spread to my lymph nodes under my armpit. I fainted when I received the diagnosis. Now, I'm facing a series of tests and chemotherapy, and I'm really scared about what to expect.
I already struggle with anxiety and depression, and this situation feels overwhelming. I would appreciate any information on what chemotherapy is like. I've been diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer, and I'm worried about the possibility of further spread. I'm trying to maintain a sense of normalcy, but everything feels like a blur, and it's frightening.
Thank you for any support you can offer.
Hi Juliet and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community and I had a lumpectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy for triple negative breast cancer 3 years ago.
The online community is divided into different support groups so I'm going to recommend that you join the breast cancer group, which is a great place to ask questions, share experiences and get support.
To join, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
There are lots of different chemotherapy drugs and I had 3 cycles of epirubicin and cyclophospamide, or EC for short, followed by 12 weeks of paclitaxel. EC was given every 3 weeks and my main side effect was losing my hair. Each cycle I found that for the first 10 days I felt a bit under the weather but for the remaining time leading up to my next infusion I was back to normal. With paclitaxel I had no side effects at all. Some people do have side effects but you have just as much chance of having minimal side effects.
It would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and proposed treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
