New diagnosis shocked and devastated

lorns → susie55

Hi @susie55

Welcome to the group. I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis. 

Don't stress about the stress, it's very, very normal. These first few weeks after diagnosis while you wait for answers are intense. I found it helped to focus on one thing at a time, and try not to think too far ahead. My surgeon was great at giving me the information I needed for that period of time and based on scan results. There's a lot they can't say without the scan results - especially as so much of your next steps are based on those.

I was diagnosed back at Easter. I had surgery first - left mastectomy, and am about two thirds of my way through chemo, with radiation and hormone therapy to come yet.

Are you having chemo first or surgery?

It sounds like you have a few tests to come. The MRI is very simple, it's to get another set of images to understand how much of the breast is involved and helps to plan for surgery. The PET scan is an MRI with an extra step. They inject you with irradiated glucose and then you lie down quietly for an hour while the glucose is used up by active cells in your body and then the MRI is used to see where that glucose goes. The heart scan is to get a baseline of how healthy your heart is prior to treatment. I'm very glad to hear your surgeon is talking about a port insertion - it makes chemo so much easier (especially if you have difficult veins).

Cancer council have free counsellors you can talk to and your breast care nurse can answer a lot of questions and point you to support resources. The breast care nurses really are an absolute godsend!

It may help to talk to your GP about something to help with getting to sleep and managing your stress. It's so difficult to manage stress and process everything without proper rest. While you might have no appetite, it could help to schedule food into your day so you can make sure you're getting something in (even if you don't feel like it).

Definitely post here too if you have questions or want to rant - there's so many lovely people here!