New Diagnosis

Hi and welcome Bramble22

I am relatively new to the site but I had to wait for CT scan and then the results. Your right the waiting is extremely difficult and everyone will tell you. Once you have the results you can then start to move forward and plans will he put into place. The not knowing is very scary but you are not alone and if you have questions feel free to ask as there are plenty of people on here who will be more than happy to help and support you.

BB

Thank you BB, think by the time the scans come around I’ll be a wreck!!! I’ve a cough at the moment, usually I would just say I’ve the cold but today...well you know what I’m thinking!! My imagination is running riot!

I'm so glad I found this forum though, looks to be an extremely friendly and helpful place. 

B.

Hi Bramble 22

Try your very best to keep busy. I did and it helped. its not easy as you do have times when your mind runs riot. Please let me know how you get on.

BB

Hi Bramble 22

The waiting is the worse part. Hopefully you have some-one you can talk to. Having a friend who could listen to me and my fears really helped me. Once my diagnosis was confirmed, everything moved really fast. 

Hope everything works out okay for you. Don't let it take over your life. 

Hugs x

Hi Bramble22,

Sorry to hear of your diagnosis, its a massive shock and not easy to cope with, waiting for scans and results is awful.  

I had a Mastectomy last year, 5CM tumour and my GP couldn't feel it and they struggled to feel it at the BC Unit, so don't beat yourself up about not finding it yourself. 

I didn't cope very well at all once I was diagnosed and truly thought I was going to have a breakdown, I've never struggled to cope with anything as much as I did BC and I couldn't see my way forward, then gradually I gathered myself, it was a slow process. 

The mastectomy wasn't as bad as I had imagined, I also had 4 lymph nodes removed and it was in 2. I recovered from the mastectomy reasonably well, I still get pain in the site and under my arm but I do muck a horse out every day and I'm a keen gardener so lots of pulling and tugging. 

Best Wishes. 

Hi, I had my mastectomy and all lymph nodes removed on my left hand side a week ago. I really think that the waiting for results is the hardest part for me so far. Once you know what you are dealing with it seems a bit easier... you just get on with the treatment. I tried hard not to worry about what hadn't happened yet (but it seemed to ambush me when I was least expecting it!). My friend told me that even if it had spread then there is so much that they can do to fix you. This meant I wasn't so scared of the results meeting. Make sure you keep talking to anyone close to you about all your fears and try to keep busy. I went to the gym a lot! Phone the Macmillan nurses to chat if you get scared. They are brilliant

Hi Bramble22

Each day is so long when you are waiting for scans, tests , results etc, I had a mastectomy on June 19th, can honestly say I felt worse waiting for the results before I had the mastectomy than I did getting over the operation. I couldn't sleep either so the time really dragged but this is the worse part of the journey. Share your fears, concerns, worries with the people, friends, family you are close too. I t really helps to talk. You will be strong and if it is any comfort when I was asking the consultant and breast specialist nurse if the cancer would get worse while I was waiting, they kept reassuring me the wait would not make a difference to the outcome. I have just returned to work after having my mastectomy 12 weeks ago!! I was a complete wreck in April when diagnosed, so hang on in there. Thinking about you and we will all be here to support you.

Rita x

So sorry to hear that, thinking of you, waiting is the worst but so much support & listening ears here, don’t feel alone we are all rooting for you. 

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and support! The days are dragging in, I know I’m strong enough to cope with any treatment to come (I think anyway) it’s the uncertainty at the moment which is hard. Didn’t think it would take so long to have scans etc.

Huge thanks again to everyone, I warn you now I will be a regular visitor here annoying you something awful!!

The CT scan is a routine staging scan which is done when there's anything in the nodes. It's good that they are sorting that out at the same time as I presume they did biopsy's too and it will speed things up in the long run. It takes about a week to find out if a tumour is ER+ and or PR+, but the HER2 results often take two weeks. As everyone always says, the waiting is terrible, because our minds always think the worst.

When I was having my bone scan (another staging scan) the radiologist said that everyone thinks that they're going to die, but that rarely is there any sign of spread and she does 25-30  a week. She waved happily at me as we left and was joking with my husband afterwards, even letting him film it for a bit on his phone, but I still thought the worst despite all that!

No one is annoying here, we're all here for each other so rant away if you feel like it!