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Marnz's avatar
Marnz
Member
13 years ago

Newbie

Hi, I have been diagnosed with DCIS for a couple of weeks now but not sure if I am okay or not. A bit confusing I know. When I was told which was over the phone I just said "ok" dr said "no,it's not ok" I said "yes it is I will be fine" I feel I am not sick enough or not important enough to have people worried about me. I know that I am extremely fortunate to have early stage breast cancer and can't fathom what the the poor women go through that get a bad diagnosis. To be honest when I tell someone whats wrong I say that I had a mammogram and the results came back bad. I haven't even been able to say "I have breast cancer" Am I having a normal reaction. I don't know how to feel. I feel natural by being positive about it but if you ask people that know me they will tell you that I am one of the most negative people they know. I always find something bad that might happen about everything in life. Which is why I think they are all waiting for me to be sad or angry.
dcis

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  • LeanneI's avatar
    LeanneI
    Member
    13 years ago

    Hi - I thought I replied to this post when you first posted but not sure what happened to it!!

    I too had high grade DCIS, had horrid family history and went down the exact road that Wendy did.  I was a little different in that I had a lumpectomy initially to give me time to plan when to have the mastectomy.  Did give me time to plan, but added an extra surgery.

    I had the same feeling that Wendy has spoken of - as the DCIS was not invasive, and needed no chemo - that it sort of didn't seem really like cancer. I nearly felt guilty when people would ask "what treatment do you need" and I would respond with "no nothing more" - they would look at me as if not having chemo meant that it must have been not significant - as if having both breasts is not enough "treatment"!!

    I have found that the diagnosis of DCIS is difficult to convey to others - cancer, not invasive & really who knows what it will do - for those that are not in the BC sisterhood, is a hard concept to grasp.

    We all make decisions what are totally right for US at a particular moment in time - I had been living with BC since I was 12 (through my mother - see my profile) and didn't want the timebombs ticking for the rest of my life. So when I was diagnosed I took control when I had a chance to make decisions in my own time.

    I now have a huge weight off my shoulders - literally & figuratively :-) and can get on with my life without the continuous thinking of "I wonder when they will get me" as I have done daily for the past 24 years.

    So - nearly 3 years since diagnosis, I have 2 boobs that have little feeling, one dicky from scar tissue from so many surgeries (6 in total) and are much smaller than I used to have BUT I know that they are now not going to threaten my life.

    May you draw so much strength from this forum and the wonderful members that have so much wisdom and willingness to share.  It really is a sisterhood that none of us chose to join but are all the richer for our involvement.

    Look forward to following your journey - no matter what road you take it will be the right one!

    Leanne :-)

     

     

     

  • Marnz's avatar
    Marnz
    Member
    13 years ago
    Thanks Leanne. I feel exactly like you are saying in regard to guilt. But I am learning that everyone feels and handles BC differently. And i have learnt that i will deal with all of my emotions as they come. Thank you so much Leanne and all the other ladies for commenting it really has helped sooooo much. It makes me ready that you are ALL so great. Xxxxx
  • LeanneI's avatar
    LeanneI
    Member
    13 years ago

    Just looked back at my post and realised that a sentence was missing a word - usually doesn't matter but this one I think does :-)  So as my post said -

    "I nearly felt guilty when people would ask "what treatment do you need" and I would respond with "no nothing more" - they would look at me as if not having chemo meant that it must have been not significant - as if having both breasts REMOVED is not enough "treatment"!"

    We all know that treatment for so many is so different and that each brings with it it's own ups, downs, side effects etc etc.  I feel blessed that I did not have to have chemo or ongoing drugs just I am sure that some would say they are blessed that they didn't have 6 surgeries in 11 months.


    As al I always say, the paths are all different and our journey in travelling them form our own individual stories.
    Leanne xx