Mental preparations

RustyB 2 months ago

2 replies
448 subscribers
177 views

Hi everyone

I am due to start chemo next week for breast cancer with significant lymph node involvement. I’ve had the operation to remove the tumor and nodes and will be receiving EC-T every 2 weeks (8 cycles of each). I’m really struggling to get my head in the right place for this, I’m currently feeling so healthy and well and it feels like I’m about to step into a massive black hole that will take me somewhere awful. My friends and family have been great, but I even feel bad for bringing this into their world and everyone keeps telling be that I’m brave or strong, but I really don’t feel brave or strong right now. Part of me wants to smash through this as quickly as possible but my biggest fear is coming out the other side a very different person. Where do you get the mental strength to face this from?

SusanHB 2 months ago

It sounds like you’re doing really well so far.

I know what you mean - I never felt unwell or had pain from the cancer, but the trouble is we need the chemotherapy to stop the cancer.

You will still be the same person throughout your treatment. I too wanted to crack through it as quickly as I could. For me it was nowhere near as dreadful as I thought it might be. It’s not always fun, but it is very, very doable.

I started my chemo in January for 3 months. I now feel very good. I think I’ve lost some stamina but I’m still expecting that to come back. I still need to have a couple more Herceptin injections, and although there are virtually no side effects, I do wonder if these are contributing to me being a pace or two behind my normal speed.

But my point is that I already feel well past the worst of it. Relatively speaking it happens over a short amount of time and you have lots more living to do once you’re through it

Best wishes x

RustyB 2 months ago in reply to SusanHB

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Yes, I’m hoping that once I am in the thick of it it will not be has dreadful as I imagine.
You sound well on the way to a full recovery and I wish you all the best for the remainder of your journey x

More from this forum

Mental preparations