Just Diagnosed

I'm sorry to read not only of the challenges you now face, but also your sister and your Mum. Perhaps it's the world's way of making you all be an amazing force of three helping each other through what lies ahead?

I can only share wiith you what has been my experience .. and I hope it helps allay some of the concerns and fears you have.

I too (47) initially diagnosed with multifocal disease in my right breast, two tumours, grade 1 and grade 2, her neg, estregon and progesterone positive.

Combined, the tumours were put at 3cm, and ss they believed them to be in two parts of the breast, a mastectomy was indicated, but from the very start I wanted nothing else. Had no interest whatsoever in mucking around with a lumpectomy. Just made sense to me that if I had two different types in two different areas at the same time, no reason not to think it wouldn't pop up elsewhere in the same breast down the track.

I had my mastectomy and a sential node biopsy (three removed, all clear) on nov 16. As it turned out, once they'd cut me open, they established it was just the one tumour and 3.5cm. One part invasive, one part not.

An hour and half out of surgery was on my mobile catching up with my husband who had gone to fill in for me at work after being with me until the point where you have to wave goodbye pre op.

I had no pain to speak of, and hardly used the button to press for relief. There was of course discomfort lifting my arm up to the side up towards my head...and this is what concerned me the most, losing use of my arm as I am right handed and an active girl. But day by day movement returned, and within a month I had full arm movement back. Soon as I got the ok to get in the water (six weeks), I was back in doing laps with no pain, and all joy.

I was back to work and in the office the tuesday after surgery, and just made sure I did lots of lying around watching bad tv whenever I could in between.

Two weeks post surgery I went through a couple of days of random pain ... it was this weird crawling sensation on my chest...wearing my bra was agony...but a day on panadine forte knocked it totally on the head. Have had no pain whatosever since.

Hand on heart, losing a breast has not hit me emotionally. I just have not found it a biggie. It's not that I wouldn't prefer it was still there, and BC had not hit me, but I viewed it very much as something that was trying to kill me, and it had to be gone. The sooner the better. I appreciate also I have an incredibly supportive husband who loves me even lopsided, and I haven't had any issues being naked around him since. We tackled the issue head on, early..he helped me have my first shower in hospital. He also watched the DVD for male partners provided in the fab care kit supplied free of charge by the breast cancer network (have you sent away for yours?) and that helped him know what he had ahead of him in terms of what I might feel, look like, need by way of support.

He of course had emotions of sadness when he saw me for the first time, said he looked and could only think what I had had to go through to stay alive and beat this, but it just is what it is, and has now become a normal part of who I am.

It's a bit of a hassle on the clothing front. I'm not a plunging neckline kind of girl but those mastecomy bras (berlie, fantastic by the way, also available from this network as a very generous gift), aren't very forgiving on the strap front when it comes to summer tops and dresses, but I've just bought a few new things with higher necklines, and add thick strapped singlets and fine knits under the clothes I already owned and no one is the wiser.

I haven't got around to ordering a proper new fake boob yet -- must do that in the new year.

As for cossies...I'm not wearing a mastectomy one..have a fab one from jets from last season, with a proper racing back, and not so low scoop front, whack one of the my sports bras underneath (the lyrca/fashion style ones those with flat abs wear on their own -- not me!) ...stick in my my soft form from the breast cancer network underneath, and again no one is the wiser. Which is pretty extraordinary given I am a D cup.

Oh..and there is a loss of sensation...your chest when it heals, needs to be massed with an oil twice a day to stop the scar adhering to your chest wall. At worst this just feels a bit icky/strange...I'm bad and keep forgetting to do it, but bio oil is said to be good. I am using rosehip oil which is all natural and great for healing scars.

As for chemo....so many different experiences...but if you click on dawngirl and travel to my blog you'll see I am posting at the moment on my day by day experience of chemo round one...all totally fine so far.

I really, really hope your experiences mirror mine, and you bounce out of surgery into the arms of your precious ones knowing you've just passed one huge hurdle with flying colours, ready for the next round of treatment to beat this dastardly thing.

Stay in touch, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or I can offer any suggestions or ideas to make the road ahead a little easier for you.

x