Hi all,
I'm 48, happily married mother of two grown up children and granny of 4. Love my life, hate breast cancer!
I'm in a bit of a pickle and I'm hoping that some of you will be able to advise me! Thanks in advance!
I was diagnosed with three little 'C words' in my left breast in March of this year. Triple positive IDC and DCIS. I had 5 of the 6 chemotherapy treatments, Doxcetaxcel, Carboplatin and Phesgo. The fifth one sent my mental health over the edge and I was suicidal, so my oncologist and I decided against the last cycle.
The plan originally was to have a mastectomy with diep reconstruction on September 5th but I was the most stressed out person in the world having been in and out of hospital. At the same time my husband and I are living in a property that we're renovating, so it's essentially a building site! Consequently, I couldn't quit smoking in time for the required 6 weeks before surgery. I know, it sounds extremely lame. Please don't judge, I've been doing plenty of that already! But the upshot is that I'm going to have a mastectomy for now and a reconstruction when I get my s*** together, quit smoking and lose some weight. I have to say that I feel ok with that.
I've got an appointment for a sentinel node biopsy for next Tuesday, a week today. No one told me that was under general anaesthesia!! Jeepers! I was taken by surprise but had accepted that it needs to be done. I spoke to my surgeon this morning and she casually mentioned that as I've elected for a mastectomy, she could do it next Tuesday. Next Tuesday. Yeah. I mean yeah, that's great, Get rid of the little buggers but next Tuesday?!
Please could someone advise how to mentally prepare for the mastectomy? Thank you and sorry about the essay! Lol!
Mads
Hi MadsBee
Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with triple positive IDC and DCIS.
It's perfectly understandable that you couldn't quit smoking in time for the 6 week requirement before surgery with all that going on. It certainly doesn't sound lame and there's no judgement here just understanding and support, also there's no need to be sorry for the essay as it's hopefully helped you in some way as you told us your story. Are you having counselling at all? If not I'd recommend it, I had counselling during my treatment and I found it a great help. You could ring the Macmillan helpline to talk to one of the volunteers about how to prepare for your mastectomy. Here's the link: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/get-help. The helpline can also help you access 6 free counselling sessions if you'd like.
Wishing you best of luck with your biopsy and operation next Tuesday.
Best wishes
Daisy53
