Many thanks to you all. I really appreciate your insights, and I'm sorry it's taken me a while to respond (wrote my password down at work, then forgot it. Told you my head was in a mess).
At home last night I remembered about 10 things I had promised to do or should have initiated during the day and just didn't. I'm a solicitor, so there's a few problems looming for me if I can't get focussed.
I'm really appreciating the value of communicating with people who have faced the diagnosis and surgery. Talking about personal health issues generally is something which does not come easily to males, and breast cancer is pretty rare for us. I wouldn't expect to be able to talk with many men with your experience, so thank you all.
We have had a number of long term friends who have had breast cancer over the last few years, and last night I talked for a long time with one of them who has had both breasts removed in separate operations a few years apart. She was amazing, very forthright about the challenges she's faced and her strategies to overcome them.
Hazel, I sent a message to my nephews and nieces last night to let them know what was happening and to encourage them to have regular checks. My mother had a mastectomy when she was 55, and it recurred when she was 80 and claimed her life, so there's a bit of family history they will all have to have regard for.
Deanne, many thanks for the good practical advice. I hadn't started to consider those sort of things yet. I'll stock up on flannelette shirts - pity it's summer.
Robyn, also great advice. Didn't know about the water and will prepare. I love to read and am looking forward to catching up on a few detective novels that have been waiting for me.
Janey, many thanks. My wife and I were actually on a week's holiday in Noosa when the GP called with the biopsy results, and we had a day or so to get used to the idea before our daughter arrived. This meant we were able to spend some quiet time with her rather than the usual rush (she's got a 3 month old son and lives in Canberra , we're in Sydney). Our son (age 28) was particularly disturbed by the news and has taken it very hard.
I'm really fortunate in that it's been detected early and has not invaded, so it's a Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS). Nonetheless it seems mastectomy is the best option for me, but I'm not going to need to have chemo or radiotherapy. I remember my Mum having awful burns after her radiotherapy, and while I know the treatment has been refined and improved enormously since she had it in 1962, the memory is still there.
Alan