Moving forward

Hi there! I’m so sorry to hear what you’re going through and what you’ve already had to endure. My coping strategy was to be GLAD to get rid of the offending articles and I forced myself to move on. It’s not easy and I would say age comes into it. I have a friend who inherited the Braca1 gene and at 35 she had both breasts removed. I guess you know it’s for the best..the treatment does appear to be far worse than the disease (altho obviously it isn’t in the long run). I hope you will find the strength and courage to overcome your fears and that you are able to dismiss the thoughts that are inevitably in your mind. I wish you well xxx

Thank you so much if you dont mind me asking what helped your friend make that decision and how did you force yourself to move forward 

My friend realised the inevitability of getting cancer and sadly her young daughter might too but will be checked, as my pal was. It was def the right decision and she now has implants so looks just as she did before. For me I never felt ‘down’ even when diagnosed. I have remained stoic throughout..don’t ask me how. I guess maybe I’m in denial….I haven’t taken my husband to ANY of my appointments and that has helped. If he’d shown emotion then I may have cracked. We don’t discuss it much and we laugh if my wig comes off accidentally when I take my jumper off! I try and keep a sense of humour. I’m 60 plus so I really believe that age (being very very old like me!) helps! Sending very best wishes xx

So glad that you have a positive outlook I got through all the treatment its afterwards I'm struggling with and the brac1 diagnosis 

Keep the Faith ️

Sorry you find yourself with more steps in your journey. Over the past 12 months I’ve had a lumpectomy, chemo, found out I have Brca2 and 6 weeks ago had a double mastectomy with immediate diep reconstruction. For me the probability of developing another primary breast cancer made the decision easy, although closer to the operation date I felt sad, angry, resentful, grief and was very preoccupied and anxious. I thought I’d really struggle with my changed body but it is going ok just now. I’ll get my ovaries out sometime next year. I feel like I can finally allow myself to make long term plans without worrying about recurrence.

some things I’ve found helpful. There’s a good brca1/2 support group on Facebook. Talking to a supporter at Maggie’s has been invaluable to me and I’ve also been lucky enough to have a psychologist through work. In the run up to my operation I decided to focus on exercise plus doing nice things for me or the family which gave me a sense of control. Hope that helps but feel free to ask any questions!