Newly diagnosed extremely anxious

It's a lot to take in . I was called for review after my routine mammogram, very shocked! Had a further mammogram,  ultrasound and biopsy,  think I was so shocked I just did as I was told. After all that the news was a small lump and that it would need to come out. 

Next appointment I was expecting results and a plan for the way forward but instead had to wait for an MRI appointment.  A couple of days later I called the breast care nurse and she talked me through what they knew already. ER + and PR+ HER2 results not back yet. MRI was to get a clearer picture of size and location.  

Following the MRI ( which wasn't as bad as I'd expected) it was results day yesterday. 17mm lump and no sign of any other trouble.  Op date 28th Feb and had to pop in to clinic this morning to have a mag seed put in. Apparently this will help the surgeon find it so it must be hiding!  The relief was considerable.  

The waiting is the worst bit. I tried to not think about it from one appointment to the next, didn't always work. You will go through all the options in your head. I did. Talk to your friends, be kind to yourself and take it one step at a time. And breathe. Hugs. X 

Hi Anxiousmumso sorry to read of your diagnosis, it's such a worrying time,  it certainly in my experience, it got a whole lot easier once I had the results and treatment started. The CT scan will reassure you that it has not spread. This was a huge worry for me, but a chat with a friend who is a radiologist calmed me a lot as he explained the percentage of ladies who find it's spread is very low and even if it has, there is so much that can be done to control and treat.  But I was still worried until I had the CT scan results and I found that keeping busy was the best coping technique for me.

The other thing that helps me is to focus in on the things I can actually control, and try to put to one side, the things that I can only influence or worry about. I can control what I eat, taking exercise etc so I worked on that and it helped a bit, but it's hard in the first few weeks until a path is clear. 

I hope you don't have to wait too long for your CT results and that you get clarity on your treatment plan soon, I think that helps too. Best wishes x

Sorry you find yourself here, it’s a scary place to be. My coping strategies is to grab the small victories, which is hard I know given what we’re dealing with. But! It’s not in your nodes, it is therefore highly unlikely to have spread elsewhere, that’s good news in the circumstances. The CT and probably MRI will hopefully give you good news too. This part when you’re awaiting your treatment is the worst time, somehow when you get a plan in place and the rhythm of treatment starts it gets it’s own momentum. Remember that more of us beat it that die from it and that as horrible as things can be sometimes, we do get through it. When you have your plan you can break it up into stages and just deal with each stage as it comes rather than thinking of EVERYTHING you’ve got ahead. You’re standing where I was in May, now I’m post chemo, post mastectomy and I’m surprised in some ways how fast it’s gone, we’re all here to offer support x

Hi Anxiousmum, I can only imagine how terrified you are, I’m very glad my children are grown up. The medics are going to do everything they can for you and what they do these days is absolutely brilliant. There are so many women out there who’ve been through this and are doing just fine. I found a great book in the library ‘ the complete guide to breast cancer’ by prof Trisha Greenhalgh and Dr Liz O’Riordan. They’ve both had breast cancer and tell you everything you need to know in a very supportive way.

You can’t control what’s happening to you at the moment but, as Irishgirl said, you can control others things. Eat really healthily (another good book is ‘How not to die’ it’s about all the foods that have been shown to be beneficial against cancer and other illnesses), stop or seriously reduce alcohol ( there’s a definite link between breast cancer and alcohol), get out walking. This will all help you mentally and get you physically better to face whatever the next few months bring.

and keep talking and sharing xx