Why such a long wait?

The best thing I ever did 10 years ago was to get diazepam this takes away the anxiety, as fear takes over which is normal and you will be angry,and emotions yo don’t understand and most of all fear and dealing with loved ones and friends some people help and others will make you feel worse they don’t mean no one wants this happening, rest assured you will get the best treatment and they are your best friend ,if you are anxious speak to your named nurse they will help and if need be speak to a councilor hope I have helped

Hey Tinkerbell,

I was in a similar sort of a situation in July when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I had my lumpectomy in August, so I guess a months wait between diagnosis and surgery seems the norm. The support nurses are really wonderful and talking to them really helps-you can also meet them if that will help you feel less anxious.

Best wishes,

SVB

Dear lady_tinkerbell,

Could you phone or go in to your hospital, BC department and speak to BC Nurse or Secretary and ask them what is happening.  

Tell them your worries and concerns and ask what their opinion....

I am sure they will have taken all this into consideration.  

We all feel like this at the start of our journey.  I had different treatment, which was delayed by a couple of weeks and due to my worries and concerns I was put on 'letrozole' this is a table that takes oestrogen out of the body.  The BC I had fed on oestrogen so by taking this tablet while treatment was arranged the letrozole was taking/reducing the food supply away... in as such the BC did 'shrink' a little.  

Depending on diagnosis and treatments this type of treatment is carried out on many patients in hope to reduce the BC to a manageable size to operate.

You could also contact your own GP, explain all and see if s/he can contact them and find out more.

Other ladies with similar operation and times will be along that can offer you better advise than me.

Sending love and hugs xxx 

Hi, I think all we can do is trust the doctors that they treat everyone as an individual looking at the risk factors for your individual cancer. 

I was diagnosed on 15/7 with TNBC it hadn’t spread but as it’s a fast growing little puppy I started chemo on 1/8 - I hadn’t even accepted I had cancer and i’d Started chemo. I asked why they don’t just cut it out straight away and the doctors explained that once all of my biopsy and scan results were is a group of experts work through the best treatment for you taking into account potential spread etc. That’s why I needed chemo straight away and others have an op within a month. 

Doesnt help though any waiting is stressful I know. I won’t have my op til after Christmas when my chemo has finished. 

If the doctors thought there was a risk of 4 weeks wait would cause spreading I’m sure they would have done something sooner. 

My hubby had a small cancer in his lung and it was removed in March 2018. It was slow growing and didn’t spread - it was diagnosed in Sept 2017 and monitored monthly - this was 7 months of worry, but they operated, took it out and he got the all clear, didn’t need any chemo or radiotherapy. So they did the right thing for his individual cancer.

Talk to the breast cancer nurses or your surgeon and ask the difficult questions. 

Good luck with your operation and recovery.

Eileen xxx

Hi Tinkerbell

This is my second lot of BC. The first one was 13 years ago. 

At the time two GP s thought my lump was a cyst so referal was non urgent so I waited about four weeks. Once I got the diagnosis the rest was quite quick. However hubby was concerned that the delay was an issue. We were told my lump at 7mm probably took about 3 years to get that big, so a couple of weeks was no big deal.

However, once I got a diagnosis I wanted it out yesterday so I know how you must be feeling.

This time the beginning was quicker, it was found through routine mammogram. The wait between diagnosis and surgery was longer. I was reassured from what had been said before but I still wanted it out.

I am confident in the professional skills of my doctors etc. And I hope they know what is best for us. If they had a concern that the wait was an issue I am sure you would be having the surgery earlier. But they need time to do tests and set up care plans.

You haven't been abandoned, you have us. MacMillan provide support and BC nurses and they are just a phone call away. Plus your family. The waiting is always the worst part of this thing. But unfortunately there is a lot of it. So, deep breaths, keep going with " normal life" and it will be here soon.

Meanwhile, hugs. Come on the Awake thread if you need to, there's usually someone laid awake just like you worrying about their future.

Hi Tinkerbell, my story is very similar to yours. I was diagnosed on 18th July with IDC and DCIS, they offered to do some further biopsies to see if I could get away without having  a mastectomy which would have taken more time but I opted to just go for the mastectomy . I had my surgery on 22nd August. Exactly 31 days from my appointment to discuss the surgery / reconstruction.

The time between being diagnosed and having my operation was complete torture and I totally understand how you are feeling. At one point I started getting double vision and of course I was convinced it was brain mets but funnily enough it’s not happened since the day of my operation. 

Im 6 weeks on now and am out walking/jogging most days and feel so much better. I think we underestimate the power os stress on our bodies, but we have to trust that the Docs looking after us know what they are doing. They’ve trodden this path many times and want the best outcomes for us.

There’s  lots of support out there. In my local area we have the Haven which offer 10 hours of complimentary therapies , so you can have massage, reflexology etc that could help with the stress, you might have something local to you. 

Good luck with the operation , the waiting really is the worst bit xxx