Recently diagnosed!

Hello and welcome to the club no one wanted to join !  I know this is a scary time but you are not checking out, breast cancer us very treatable .  Once you have firm treatment plan you will feel calmer .  Stay away from dr Google especially in middle of night.  I had different type of breast cancer and I'm 5 years clear.  There are a few ladies with TNBC who will be able to provide you with more help /advice .

His old are your children.  It's a good idea to tell their teachers.  If you feel too emotional to say face to face ring or email school.  

With family & friends you'll get mixed reactions.  Some will dismiss you saying you'll be fine as they think this best approach but it might make you angry as it is big deal being told you have cancer and I suggest you tell them this in a nice way and say you need to process this.  Others may become all dramatic and you try to make them feel better about your diagnosis-this isn't your job.  Just focus on your self and your children   The children will pick up on it so be open with them.  

There's an Awake thread for when you can't sleep .  You can talk about anything there!  Often light hearted or gossipy!  It's been running for 3 years do just say hi and join in.  

xx

Here is link to awake thread 

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/breast-cancer-forum/f/breast-cancer-forum/128753/awake#pifragment-13906=2952

Good morning Shoeslovergill. I hope you have at last found some sleep but incase you are still awake I thought you might like to know that in 2015 I too was diagnosed with TNBC. My 5th year mammogram last week was still clear. I have another TNBC friend who was also clear last week on her 4th year check. Treatments are advancing all the time. Early detection usually leads to sucessful recovery. Don't be panicked by the TN statistics which suggest there is less chance of survival than other types of cancer. You have a great chance of sucessfully surviving this. The difference between the negative and positive treatments is that at the present time there are no follow on drugs which have sucessfully reduced deaths for positive patients rather than increased the risk for TNBC. Statistics are not a good thing to study without all the facts. Keep away from Google. It is very misleading!

I hope the chemo goes well. For many it will shrink the cancer considerably.  My friend's shrank enough to change her treatment from a mastectomy  to a lumpectomy.  

And hope to see you in Awake next time you have a difficult night sleeping. At least it will often make you laugh!

Take care. Love Karen

Appreciate your reply x 

Thank you it’s reassuring to read, I know I think I need to focus on me and not google! 
I just want to get going, I’m very impatient. 
did you have panic attacks at the beginning? 
I need some techniques on how to deal with them x 

Hello, those first few weeks are the worst, it does get easier.   I found during the day keeping my brain distracted helped, what you do depends on you, for me I crocheted, jigsaws, read & binged on Netflix.  But it's very different at night, I also have asthma and I use a technique I was taught for that, I count in my head, slowly, I picture each number, the black outline of it on a white background.   It sounds silly, but its calming, keeps your brain focused and eventually I fall back to sleep.   If I find my mind wandering back to bad thoughts I drag it back to counting.

This time will pass, as you begin treatment you will feel more in control.   I wish you well x 

I know what you mean about the bad thoughts, my breast cancer is a different one but to be honest the only word I heard was cancer! I think most people get paranoid, I know I am at times I am also new on here and only plucked up the courage to post last night, but have already had people reach out to offer support., I actually slept through! It’s good to know others that are going through the same thing and have come out the other side. Hope all goes well this aft. 

Stay strong 

I’ve been to see my oncologist today and I feel a lot better just hearing some positive words and confirmation. I’ll feel even better once I get this ct scan out the way aswell. 
hoping to sleep abit better later, my body is exhausted and my brain hurts ♀️ 

thank you and hope all goes well with you x

Glad you fee, better.  As treatment progresses it does get easier mentally xx