Diagnosed 2 Days Ago

Purrrrrfect.....

Great that you have a date - and I LOVE your cat!!  xx

Take care xx

Thanks Everyone, as it turns out just have no time to go to work been busy with appointments ... met surgeon last Friday, booked in for surgery next Thursday (27th) 
wide excision, possible axillary clearance. 

Hi @Raich, so many wise women on this forum.  So much knowledge to share with us all along the way.  Sending you hugs. xx

Hi, @Raich, 

Sounds like you are doing really well. If it helps you to be organised then do what you need. 

In many ways I've found waiting for things to be difficult. Once you have things rolling it sortof becomes easier. 

Ive worried (possibly a bit unnecessarily) about money and implications for my job. I went back to work post surgery 2 weeks .25 and it felt a bit of a burden just to do the showing up.  Worked from home. Still healing, also things happen fast and I had to finish processing it. I was interested in working through chemo but my thought process has changed a bit as time has gone on. 

You may be able to access some funds through your superannuation. Some have income protection included. That could help if you need relief. I was worried initially because my sick leave ran out last week and i don't have much annual leave. Its been 5.5 weeks since saw breast surgeon, had surgery and just now starting chemo for 20 weeks. Most important is health and getting back to your pre diagnosis well feeling. Including emotions. Maybe have some back up plans and investigate those. You don't know how you will feel or what treatment is yet.

I found planning a week at a time is about most I can achieve. 

Michele

I Agree with @Afraser - keeping busy/routine prior to surgery definitely stops a lot of the pondering. Sitting at home will exacerbate it. :(   I just went fishing pretty well every day I could between the initial callback & the diagnosis (3 months!!!) as it requires full concentration and I was on the water in my kayak when the call came thru that I needed to see the GP ...

I think that if you need to access funds and you have a life insurance policy that may allow you a payout if ill. (some super funds have one attached to it as well, so worth checking out.)   I think @Zoffiel did a lot of research into this a year or two back.

All the best xx

Dear @Raich
If it helps at all, I found working took my mind off bc and treatment, and that helped. Constant thinking about the reality, the future, trying to double guess what might happen was quite easy and not particularly helpful, so being immersed in something else fairly demanding was a relief. I only had two days between diagnosis and surgery (worked both) then a week for post surgery recovery (single mastectomy). Of course it all depends on how you react to treatment, but for me work was good medicine. Your recovery, physical and emotional, pivots on doing what feels right. That may be very different for each individual, at different times. A Plan B is always a good thing. Best wishes. 

Again, thank you for your kind words and advice. Xxx 
I’ve  spent some time this evening  planning my classes lessons for the next few weeks - fellow teachers will understand how time consuming it is 🙄. 

@raich As has been said - who you tell is totally up to you.  However, it might be good to let some people know so that if you need support, they are aware of what is going on.  For me, my kids go to the school I am at but I was just "on leave" to most of the students - my kid's friends were aware though.  My colleague's all knew but I left the telling to the co-ordinator.  I only told two friends and asked them to pass on the news to others.  I also told people that I didn't want them calling me to talk about it but as time went on, that mattered less.  I also kept a blog with updates on progress and gave family, friends and colleagues the address - this has now become a sort of diary of that year.  I have never felt that I needed to keep the news to myself but I did want to control how and when I spoke about it.

In the end, it's whatever makes life easier for you.