Its all so new

Welcome to the forum Paula, not welcome to rotten cancer. No worries the docs will sort it out and you will come good.

Excellent replies from the other ladies. Do take someone with you to each appointment. Do write a list of questions no matter how silly or trivial you think they may be.

Everything, even depression can be handled by your breast cancer team so just be up front about it and they will help you. There are also councillors and McGrath breast nurse available.

Some weird darn things go through your mind. I had scary little mini panic attacks but fortunately there were at home and not in public and I got through it. For some reason 3 mornings in a row I woke up with the words in my head first thing, I am a chemo patient. It really browned me off as I was feeling just not too bad at the time and my stupid brain did not have to remind me of things. I even chucked a tantrum in front of the specialist doctor who I thought was being rather flippant and she copped a bucket of tears that day, as did the poor unsuspecting pre-op nurse who I saw right afterwards lol.

We all muddle through and we're here for you if you want to have a rant or just need a cyber hug.

Hi Paulan, I can only imagine the stess you find yourself dealing with right now.  The roller coaster that is Breast Cancer is certainly not a fun ride!.  The waiting is always rubbish and getting a letter that you have no idea what it means will only be adding to the situation.

For now try to spend time doing things you love to help you to relax and also it could be worth a call to your doctor who is treating you for your CMD, it would be good to keep them in the loop.

Six days will no doubt seem like the longest time on your life and I am glad you have been able to get an appointment sooner than they planned.  No doubt the Dr will go over the test results and if there needs to be further identification or better still to begin the organisation of your required treatments. For me, once I had a treatment plan I was able to focus on that and felt much better over all.

If you have not already done so, get BCNA to send out a My Journey Kit as the information in there is very informative and helpful and will will no doubt help with the "you don't know what you don't know" and help you get some questions together.

Is there anyone who can attend the appointment with you? that is always helpful too.

I am sending you warm comforting turtle hugs and hope they help to give you just a little more sleep while you wait for the next step to begin.

hugs Sharon (pink66 - Super Turtle)

Hi Paulan,

I just wanted to say hello. My name is Ann-Marie and I am the Online Community Coordinator at BCNA. We are all here to help and support you, so please ask as many questions as you need to.

If there is anything I can do just let me know.

~ Ann-Marie

Hi Paulan, the unknown can be so scary. This is a time when you don't know what to expect. Nadine is right, find out as much as you can about your diagnosis, to be armed with knowledge somehow helps to have a framework to hang your confusion on. Does that make any sense? In the early days my mind went wandering down so many "what if" pathways, but all you really have to deal with today is here and now. This is an awful thing to happen to any woman, but you are not alone. As much as its really sad to see so many women living with bc, it's also a huge encouragement to have those women share your experience like no one else can. We are here for you. I hope you can get some rest, amazing how we cope so much better with a good nights sleep, Tracey??

Hi Paulan, so sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis. The first few days and weeks can be such a shock and a roller coaster of emotions. I too went through periods of being positive then absolutely terrified when I was diagnosed last October. The first thought I had when I woke up from a few hours sleep each night was "oh, yeah, that's right I have breast cancer." Waiting times for Doctor's appointments and test results were also really difficult. Just take a deep breath. Once you attend your appointment you may find that things will happen very quickly as you'll have a better understanding of what you are dealing with. You can order the My Journey kit from BCNA which has a lot of really useful and reassuring information. I strongly recommend taking someone with you to that appointment so you have an extra set of ears to listen and help ask questions. Write questions down ahead of time if you can and take pen and paper to take notes because sometimes there is a lot of information. Talk to your doctor about your depression and not sleeping. This is a time to marshall all of your resources and support together and your medical team will be a big part of that. I know how scary it can feel. The most important thing is to take it one day at a time. The ladies on this network have been a wonderful support for me, so come on here at any time.

Wishing you all the best, Nadine