Newly Diagnosed

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I have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and awaiting a lumpectomy in January I have a very supportive family who I can talk to but at times struggle to remain positive and just wondered how people cope at times of negative thoughts and feelings as I don’t want to discuss theses with family 

  • Hi  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 was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago.

    It's great to read that you have a supportive family but it's impossible to remain positive all the time and perfectly natural to worry about your diagnosis. 

    The online community is divided into different support groups so I'm going to recommend that you join the breast cancer group as you'll then connect directly with others who have the same type of cancer as you. 

    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'.

    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.

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     "Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"

  • Morning Mildred

    Sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. 

    Staying positive all of the time is hard enough without a cancer diagnosis. Life certainly appears to need balance, and actually, an open mind will consider everything that comes its way. This is a positive thing overall and helps to add perspective. I understand a reluctance to discuss those darker trains of thought with your family. We don't want them to worry and we also want to tell ourselves that we are coping.

    The thing is, people who love you will worry, and you are coping if you are addressing your thoughts, whatever they might be. 

    The word "balance" helped me. It allowed me to understand that everything I felt was normal, relative and reasonable, especially when it felt like enough was enough.

    A positive mind set addresses the pro's and the con's. It applies balance and perspective. Easier said than done, but if everything was easy there would be no balance.

    I wish you all the very best Mildred.

    Kind regards

    DaveM