Hi all,
I’ve just been diagnosed with TNBC, grade 2. I stupidly googled it and now I’m freaking out. I have my plan but it hasn’t helped me to feel any better. I think the waiting is my biggest fear (surgery not planned until later July and then chemo from sept).
Any tips to calm my panic? I can’t sleep and trying to mask my panic is not working. I need to stay strong for my little boys but struggling right now.
I haven’t told many people other than close family as I don’t want them to know just yet. Feel I don’t have the strength to have the same conversation over and over again every time someone else finds out.
Any advice about dealing with diagnosis and waiting around appreciated.
I am so sorry that you have been diagnosed with cancer. It is such a shock to be told this. ALthough it does not feel like it now, your reaction shows that you are already processing and dealing with the shock, even though it definitely does not feel like it right now. The waiting is the hardest part.
The good news is that there are some things beyond what our fantastic breast care teams do, that we can do to improve our outcomes. Take a look at cancer active for some positivity or even yes to cancer.
My little list of things I wish I knew at diagnosis were:
exercise reduces your chance of recurrence by 50 percent
trying to calm your mind with yoga, meditation or similar lowers stress hormones and improves outcomes (I am hopeless at this one but still trying)! Also try some acupuncture, reiki or a relaxing massage. Do the things you love most and find relaxing.
hyperbaric oxygen therapy is worth looking in to at your local MS society group. It helps the body heal when having surgery/chemo/radiotherapy
trying to eat a good healthy diet within an 11 hour window is better than eating late in the evening with breakfast early
improve my gut health to help my immune system work better - the 5 things that come to mind aside from lots of fruit and veg are taking a good probiotic
I wish I had consulted a cancer nutritionist at diagnosis (I did not know they existed) . There will be links on cancer active and yes to cancer and probably through Macmillan too.
I found that taking back some control of the things I could do to improve the outcome really helped me. I also found ringing the Macmillan helpline incredibly helpful. Just expressing my fears and worries to someone, somehow made them less scary. I used the helpline more than once and it was fantastic.
Am really thinking of you, but hang on to that hope. You can get through this and do well. x
I forgot to say that I have downloaded meditation/ calm apps on my phone. There are lots there. I really am not a meditation person, but even I have found this so useful. Even if it just stills my mind for ten mins. Have a look on the app store. I think there are even apps designed for cancer patients, though you can just choose any really.
And there are free online classes for yoga, taichi and all sorts of exercise classes too. Is worth looking for one of those. My tolerance is about 20 -30 mins max before I get bored so I always go for the short and sweet ones!
I have Tnbc, diagnosed last June. Have done the I’ve chemo, op, radio and now on xeloda for mop up. All going ok now, but was a mess when diagnosed. It does get better, you get used to it and having a plan in place helps. To stop me dwelling on it, I did on-line yoga classes, sound therapy and art therapy. Never did them before, but hey it’s something different and keeps me busy (I’m fairly rubbish at them, but hey why not!). I also arranged to go out weekly with friends for a coffee. It was like Covid, sitting outside doing this. But having the chats helped me too. Best of luck on your journey. xx
Thanks for the advice. Some great ideas here. I’m going to try to take control and get a grip. Diet definitely needs looking at as I’ve just eaten terribly all week since finding out (can’t face cooking).
Thanks. That does make me feel better. It’s the not knowing which I’m finding the hardest right now. I’ll give some online classes a go and see if I can focus on the positives. Love the idea of art therapy (even though I’m sure I’d be terrible!).
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