New diagnosis

Hi Hannah - I think the waiting and not knowing whats next is the most difficult part of all of this - as your mind goes into overdrive. I would strongly recommend you call the macmillan help line - 

We offer confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 00 00

I have called them a number of times - select the option to connect you to a nurse - I guarantee that you will feel a little better after talking to them. of course they will not have access to to your personal files - but are so knowledgeable and helpful. you can register to create a  record with them when on the phone - so that if you call again you do not have to repeat yourself. Cannot recommend them highly enough. (my allocated BC nurse at the hospital has not been helpful at all unfortunately, never calls back).

I am a few weeks ahead of you - chemo starts next week.

sending support

jo

x

Hi Hannah G 

I am sorry you find yourself here. Its such a shock to be told you have cancer. I was in the same boat as you on 29th May and the biopsy confirmed it a week later. 

I was in shock and so was my husband. We spent a lot of time stressing and crying because we didn't know enough detail. 

Fast forward to now and we are much more relaxed and I have had a lumpectomy and they have checked my lymph nodes and just found a tiny bit in one. 

I am having second surgery at the end of July and then chemotherapy immunotherapy and radiotherapy plus prevention medication. 

Breast cancer is very common and they have so many wonderful treatments these days so think about this. You are in good hands. The NHS is great for stuff like this. 

What was it that triggered the appointment? Did you find a lump? 

Try and keep busy and as jlw says speak to a macmillan nurse and they are so knowledgeable and helpful. 

Thank you so much for your reply Jo. I will give them all call as I feel that its going to be a long weekend and the following weeks are going to be torture for me.. Stay strong xx

Thank you so much for taking time to reply.. it really is a shit and lonely place to be right now. I am hoping that I can keep my moral high. I have just watched my 20 year old daughter go through a battle with Leukaemia.. so I need to be strong now for her too. Life is shit at the moment xx

Hi Hannah G 

Sorry you have to be here, but welcome. 

As others have already said, this is the hardest part. I guarantee you will feel better when you have a treatment plan and know what is happening and when.

I was in your position last year and just been through some horrible stuff so it felt like a real kick in the teeth to then be diagnosed. It is s**t, I agree, but it doesn’t have to be lonely. There are lots of lovely people here and on other forums who will be there for you as much as you need/want them to be.

You need time to deal with the shock first. I found a journal really helpful where I could write down how I was feeling, rant and swear as much as I wanted. I would get it all out on paper in the morning and then try to go about my day. Didn’t always work, but definitely helped. Exercise (which I can’t recommend enough for both now and for ongoing recovery) was also really helpful.

I hope your daughter is okay now. I have a daughter of a similar age. x 

Awe bless you and thank you for your support. I have amazing friends around me but they are saying what they think I need to hear and in fairness I would probably be the same. Everyone has been so kind, I just wish it wasn't happening and this waiting game is helish.. I want to know what I'm facing but I don't want to know all at the same time.. i am so anxious already.. hope that makes sense.

Thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. My reason for going to the doctors was that my boob had become firm and changed shape.. I was hoping it was hormonal because im going through the menopause at the moment too..  but that wasn't to be sadly .. xx

Oh no.  It is so shit. I found a lump and as I had stopped contraception about 9 months earlier I thought it was hormonal too. 

Everyone on here has been incredible and we are so lucky we have the NHS.  It needs a lot of improvement but for cancer care it's top notch. (in my experience so far!). 

You have probably caught it early and it's all going to be fine with treatment but it's worrying until you are actually told that!  Big hugs! X

1. Hi Hannah, I’m in the same boat. I got my diagnosis on Monday . Mammograms , scan and biopsies, then told and I was on my own . Booked in for more biopsies on Tuesday and oncologist on Thursday . The waiting is awful. Big hugs 

Hi Hannah G,

I really feel for you, the weeks waiting is the worst time of your life.  
Because of a bank holiday, it took 3 weeks to get my results.  The longest 3 weeks of my life, so I have been in your shoes.

Then I got a phone call from the breast care nurse on a Friday at 4.30pm, to give me an appointment for 8.30am on Monday ! 
The nurse wouldn’t give me any information, other than the Consultant would explain everything….my mind went into overdrive, an appointment so quickly could only be the worst news, but I was wrong….

Yes it was Cancer, but relatively small and treatable, with surgery, radiotherapy and medication. 

Then things began to move very quickly.
The Consultant had already scheduled my surgery for 2 weeks later, to have a lumpectomy and he would do a Lymph node biopsy at the same 

To tell you not to worry is useless.

I have been there and I know, the nurse telling me not to worry (or go to Dr Google), didn’t make any difference.  

But, for what it’s worth, my advice would be, not to read too much into the lack of information you were given and waiting longer for results or getting an appointment at short notice will not always bring the worst news imaginable.

I wish you well Hannah