Diagnosed this week and struggling
Hello everyone I'm glad to have found this community. I found a lump a few weeks ago, had a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsies and have two tumors in one breast, both invasive, one lobular and ...
Forum Discussion
Hi @Sammie_909, so sorry to see you here. As someone with anxiety myself, I found that using my normal anxiety strategies were helpful.
So with my diagnosis I needed to know as much as possible about my type of cancer and my histopathology report, and then seeing the results of all my scans. Asking the nurses and doctors to just be honest and upfront helped me more than anything. When I had worries, like that one of my tumours had grown I would just ask during the next ultrasound (which was for my clip insertion) for them to measure them for me so I knew for certain as I could see the numbers of the screen. I also found journaling a way to get out everything going through my head.
If you are going through the public system they do have onco psychologists but the waiting lists can be long. I have found listening to the upfront about cancer podcasts the best because I could listen to someone describe how they dealt with something I was worried about. The BCNA helpline is also good to offer a supportive ear and some advice.
Do you have a breast care nurse yet? I found mine to be a great personal support also. She got me earlier appointments and advocated for me to doctors and gave me information and support about things that have worried me recently.
Not sure how much of that is helpful but honestly the work that has been done to increase survival rates of those even with metastatic disease is amazing to what would have been the prognosis 20 years ago. Please feel free to reach out if you need support and look after yourself x