Unlucky?

Hi NE,

Having cancer is very isolating as most of us will not know many others (or any others) that have been down exactly the same path making it difficult to compare what one person has gone through with your own journey / ordeal. 

I am still to find someone that has had exactly the same diagnosis (3 tumours, 2 of which were invasive lobular & 1 invasive ductal, hormone positive and HER2 + and one lymph node involvement), meaning my treatment was mastectomy, chemo for 5 months, Herceptin for 12 months, radiotherapy and now hormone tablets for the next 5-10 years. However, I've found that although our paths may differ, we still have so many common experiences and feelings that draw us together and which is why I've found this a good site to try and process some of the thoughts and feelings that have arisen over the past three years. Not everyone else's experience will resonate with me but many other's do and their stories are usually the ones I will feel most drawn to.  

I think we all have particular words or phrases that grate, or cause us to feel even more anxious and worried - my initial pet hate was the "think positive" mantra - but I think it is all just a part of us, or those around us, trying to process the enormity of it all.

Not sure if this is something you've considered, but it might be worth attending a support group, or something like the Encore exercise program (for women with breast cancer), where you might meet others who are at the same stage / able to relate to your experiences so that you don't feel quite so isolated.

You're so right, not one of us is "lucky" or "unlucky", we're all just trying to get our heads around what has happened and sometimes simple words just fail us. Jane xx