Newly Diagnosed & Struggling

Welcome to the online network,the most fantastic place for help and support:) I am sorry to hear of your little boy and his illness,and now you.But do,you know what? You are going to be just fine.Breast cancer is very treatable these days:) I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma,last September.I had a mastectomy( which was way easier than I anticipated) followed by chemo,and now I take Tamoxifen.Looking back,I now realise that it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.I am a foster carer,and right through my treatment,our 3 boys hardly realised that anything was going on!!If I hadn't of lost my hair,I think that lots of people wouldn't have known,and I put this down to the drugs that they use these days as opposed to the ones that they had perhaps 10 or 15 years ago.I am not trying to trivialise BC and it's treatment,but as some ladies on here say,after they start treatment,"it was a bit of a non event"! Prepare for the worst and expect the best.If you have chemo,this blog is the best place for all the advice that you will need as in what to expect,and how to get ready for it.My best advice for you at the moment,would be,try hard not to panic and start to look ahead,when you really don't know yet what IS ahead.I was absolutely scared witless when told I had BC,and sure there were days through treatment when I was really fatigued,and I needed to rest more,but the actual side effects that I got were all very manageable with medication.For instance,feeling nauseous,mouth ulcers,feeling tired,itchy skin,aches and pains!So try to take it one day at a time,anew if you need to fall in a heap,then do it! A good cry is very helpful,then you get on with it until the next one.Take any help offered,as a job shared is a job halved,and if you can lighten the actual amount of work that you do,especially around the house,it will certainly help,with your rest and recovery.Take care,and please stay with us on here.There is someone on here 24/7,should you need them.CheersxoxRobyn