Need a bit of positive inspiration

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Eastmum
Eastmum Member Posts: 495
Hi amazing ladies - I'm new on this forum and so appreciative to everyone that has so generously shared their stories. It's absolutely incredible to have this resource. 

I've just been diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma - ER/PR + and HER 2 - so far nodes look all good on ultrasound but I know that's no guarantee. Haven't seen Dr yet as he's away but on the phone he predicted stage 1 or 2 - in both sides so will need to have bilateral mastectomy at some stage.

I'm about to have my staging scans - CT chest, abdo, pelvis and full bone scan. These freak me out way more than the Breast Cancer diagnosis - does that sound weird? It's likely that I've had the cancer for at least a year despite thorough mammograms, ultrasounds and MRI 12 months ago came up all clear, as lobular is so hard to detect. 

I'm now imagining that the persistent cough, the lower back pain, the dull pain in my skull and the pain in my knee are all mets - expecting the worst!  

I totally understand that my scans might show mets and I'm geared up for the worst - I've read lots and lots of stories from women living with mets for many many years - but I would be really inspired to hear some stories from others who feared the worst - also had persistent aches, pains, cough etc and ended up having clear scans. I'm not looking for false hope just for some uplifting examples which would really help right now. Does anyone have statistics on how many people are diagnosed with mets from the start? Like is it the majority??

Also, can anyone tell me if osteo arthritis, old fractures and general inflammation from wear and tear shows up as suspicious mets? 

Thanks in advance!