a Newbie needing reassurance

Hi Kath, I was also diagnosed as triple negative in April 2016 initially told tumour was1.5cm surgery revealed it was 3.5cm but not in lymph nodes. It's a roller coaster ride for sure but you ride it, you will have good days and there is those off days but you soldier on relentlessly. Please don't go to Dr Google it just doesn't help, instead it's one day at a time, I don't plan too far ahead apart from appointments, my mother is also a triple negative breast cancer survivor 6 years on now and she is doing well, we have come a long way in treatments, take care Sophie 

Hi Kath. I am so sorry you are struggling with this. It's awful, it's unfair and it stinks! But you are not alone - we all have, and still are facing daily challenges and fears. I was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal HER - in late August and had a mastectomy and lymph node removal 3 weeks later. It happened so damn fast! And I'm due to commence chemo in the next few weeks (Yeeks!!). As the other women have said things do shift and change.
I was absolutely terrified, sad, crying all the time and feeling at sea. I requested the Breast Clinic managing my case refer me to a psychiatrist and it really helped me with dealing with the news and pre-surgery feelings, plus also a few of the horrible things that happened straight after my surgery (being left by my partner, and other nasty scenarios).
Ask you GP to refer you immediately. Don't wait. Australia has incredible mental health care support for cancer patients, and I find it really useful to get past the hurdles as I approach them.
Meditation, taking yourself for walks on the beach, or in a park are good for you. Revel in the very simple things in life. Rekindly friendships and reach out. I asked all my old pals to post funny stories plus pics of fun times on my facebook page and the memories buoyed my mood so much.
I also found playing with animals cheered me up. I borrowed my cousin's cat post op' and held that furball tight. He curled up and purred over the surgery site, which felt amazing and I called him my nurse. Now I have my sister's staffies to play with during the journey of chemo and radiotherapy.
As this unfolds you will be amazed at how strong you actually are, and do reach out to us all here. We are in this together, and you are not alone.
Hugs. Karen xo

thanks everyone.  Its soo bloody hard isnt it.  Im try to focus on the good prognosis, caught on routine mam no lump small tumourgreat margins sentinel nodes clear, Breast and abdo MRI clear and breast and abdo CT clear but I wish the oncologists were more consistant in their staging and follow up.  Some people have pet scans and bone scans as well.Fell ok physically have dropped 12 kgbut still worry they may have missed something

cheers

Kath 

@KathSeward
 is it normal to worry that they have missed something.... part of the weight loss can be our stress in the situation. 
IT is bloody hard.... 
hugs Soldier Crab 

Kath, My staging tests were done in two sequences. 1) Bone(Scan), Lung(Chest x-ray) & Liver(Blood Test) as they are the first port of call on diagnosis when they thought it was stage 2-3. Then after surgery when they had the pathology on the tumour clarified as TNBC stage 3 they ordered: Head, chest, abdomen and pelvis CTs. I had to argue for the head CT. The surgical team doctor was dismissive. So I said that I'd get my GP to order it if she wouldn't and pointed out that would mean two sessions of dye that I'm extremely allergic too for me to deal with, and she conceded to do all four at once. So the latter was ordered 5 weeks after diagnosis and after surgery. I lost weight in the pre and post op period from stress and while taking pain meds I'm sure. I think the staging is really done based on the type of cancer and the stage. Ask to have it explained, and I suggest you write down the questions before and take a bossy friend/relative to ask the questions for you. Even if the question is why aren't you doing full sequence CTs. It helps!! Hugs.

Hi Kath,  I found that the breast care nurses were great with info - just keep asking questions.  ask for any extra help you think you might need.  While I have a connective tissue disorder as well that complicated things I just kept asking for help.  some extra's that I found helped were - physio for cording in the arm following surgery, physio can also refer you to hydrotherapy which is a gentler way to exercise if you are finding your normal exercise routine too hard, When my daughter had to have surgery and I was going through chemo the hospital social worker was able to arrange for us to be flown to the city so I didn't have to drive.  The local cancer group here called me up and told me about a local nurse who is trained in cancer massage - and they pay half the cost - was a really great way to be able to relax when stressed without it costing too much and also knowing that because of her training it was safe for me to do.   When you find a really good person at taking your bloods - you know the one that hurts less than the others - you can ask for them by name each time - just knowing you don't have to put up with a trainee digging around trying to find a vein makes the hassle of weekly bloods that bit easier.  You have enough stress - do everything you can to be gentle to yourself during this time.
Hugs!!

@KathySeward ....Mine is a stage 1 grade 3....at 1.9cm (19mm) ....so yours has to be a lesser stage ...unless it is classed as DCIS and not invasive breast cancer. It can be confusing but I would check your pathology report.

https://canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/cancer-types/breast-cancer/diagnosis/stages-breast-cancer

Dear Kath, so sorry to hear your news. Yes it's a shock and very scary.  The treatment can be most unpleasant at times, at other times it's quite ok.  90% of woman with breast cancer survive five years.  This is very good news.  You just have to turn up for the treatment and manage the side effects.  There is medication to help with side effects.   It turns out we women with breast cancer are much stronger than we knew.   Amazingly we cope somehow through the treatment and the fear and then most of us move on with our lives.  Our energy returns, our hair grows, we wear our scars proudly.  We will never be the same again, in many ways this is not a bad thing.  The very best of luck to you.  Karen