Motivation lacking

Snowie

Hi,  I'm newly diagnosed and am booked for a lumpectomy early next week. The good news is it has been found early and at this stage I will only need the lumpectomy and radiotherapy.  Apparently a second op may be needed after pathology but hopefully this won't be the case. So it's looking at the easier end of treatment at this point.  My concern is that I am on my own in this.  Some good friends will help where they can of course,  especially driving me to the op and more than that if needed but of course they will still have work etc of their own to cope with so overall I will be alone and combined with arthritis and walking difficulties I'm pretty nervous about how I will cope.  I sure hope I will manage to drive myself to the radiotherapy sessions,  I've been told many people do this so maybe I'm worrying ahead of time but I'd love to hear how those of you who are alone in this manage and stay motivated.   Thanks and hugs everyone.   Snowie.  

socoda

Hi Snowie, Welcome to the site
If you're worried about getting to and from treatment try getting in contact with your hospital and see if they offer transport services for cancer patients.  If not try Cancer Council on  telephone 131120 for information on their transport services. Always a wise idea to get your plan B in place just is case you need it , helps with the anxiety levels too!  Hoping that you won't need them and wishing you all the best. Xx Cath

InkPetal

Hello, welcome to BCNA

One of the members here @angiesg made this thread asking about side effects where you can read a lot of useful and recent member responses on it too.   I was at orientation last week and they were explaining to me all about how I could get my parking validated. The people I spoke to in the waiting room said that it builds up slowly but eventually stings like a really bad sunburn but they had no other side-effects to complain of.

If you haven't seen them on the main site yet:
Radiation information page is here
Caring for your skin after Radiotherapy pageis here

How are you coping otherwise?

Snowie

Thank you Cath and InkPetal for your very helpful info,  I'll definitely check out transport services just in case and read up more,  thanks for making that easy.  I've become scatterbrained this last week especially and I think it's my form of panic.  Other than that I'm coping ok and trying to stay positive,  and I'm relieved that it's not more complicated.  You all sound an amazingly strong bunch of ladies.    Xxx.

socoda

Snowie you are about to be blown away by your own amazing strength!! The fact that you're already looking at contingency plans speaks volumes!! I certainly wouldn't be counting your attention to detail as being scatterbrained. This is an incredibly stressful time, so you need to be gentle with yourself. It's okay to panic too because you will still get through this.Xx

melclarity

Hey Snowie!
I think its so normal to feel a bit overwhelmed and to also be thinking ahead of things. Just to ease your mind, Radiation is in no means anything like Chemo. It literally takes minutes to do, takes you longer to get there and get home, it is completely painless, like having a scan. The only thing I can say is, it is cumulative, so it causes fatigue as you go, saying that I worked full time through it and am a single parent. However at the end of the 6 weeks, I had to have 2 weeks off as the fatigue was debilitating and I am fair so ended up with radiation burn to the breast and armpit, it healed super quickly however with burn gel they provided. So I feel you'll manage fine getting there and home, you just may feel tired as it progresses. So take it a day at a time, and if you feel you're struggling, have a look at how you can get some help. The medical team are so helpful honestly, dont be scared to ask for help or any questions.

You'll surprise yourself, you'll do great!
Hugs Melinda xo

Ann-Marie

Hi Snowie, welcome to the online network. As you can see the members are all here to help you feel supported and not alone in this journey. A little note book may help, so you can write things down. Whether its questions for your medical team or just questions you may like to ask here. Having a backup plan just in case you are unable to get yourself to and from treatment will help provide peace of mind. 

Snowie

Thank you very much all of you for your wonderful and positive replies.  Very helpful too.  It all comes as such a surprise doesn't it?  And has to be dealt with so quickly.  Three weeks ago I didn't have a clue all this was ahead of me and although I'm very relieved it has been caught early it still takes time to sink in.  Hugs,  Snowie xx.