Recently diagnosed at 28 !
I thought i would drop by and say hello and share my experience so far
I first noticed a lump on my left breast on the areola in May but completely ignored it thinking that it is just a cyst/inflammation due to the location of the lump, lack of family history for it to be cancer and i thought "surely i wouldn't have breast cancer at my age?"- but boy was i wrong. In late August, my partner encouraged me to see my GP about it and since then my life has been turned upside down.
I was diagnosed on 9/9/16 and a week later i went into surgery to get a lumpectomy and axillary node clearance. They removed 12 lymph nodes and only 1 was affected. My cancer is also a grade 3 and Estrogen +, Progesterone + and HER2 -
Unfortunately my surgical margin has not been clear and I will have to go back to surgery with a possibility of a mastectomy this time.
Being faced with the idea of a looming death has been the scariest so far. But the saddest I have experienced is the idea that I may not be able to conceive naturally and I am currently looking at fertility preservation before starting chemo. I am looking into genetic testing to see if my genes mutated and I now carry the cancer gene.
I am trying to keep strong but I have given in to my tears and sadness on days. I am worried about chemo and for someone who likes to be control, the idea of the unknown is scary. I hate the idea of being a burden to my partner who will now also take a role of being a carer. We've only been together for 6 months and all i want to do with him is travel, explore the world and experience the romance of being in love. But I am lucky he has been supportive and still sticking by me.
I am surprised at the number of people under 35 who are being diagnosed more frequently recently- is there something in the waters? I have always thought this was a disease for the older woman but if there's one lesson I've learnt, is that this cancer doesn't discriminate and can happen to anyone at whatever age.
I first noticed a lump on my left breast on the areola in May but completely ignored it thinking that it is just a cyst/inflammation due to the location of the lump, lack of family history for it to be cancer and i thought "surely i wouldn't have breast cancer at my age?"- but boy was i wrong. In late August, my partner encouraged me to see my GP about it and since then my life has been turned upside down.
I was diagnosed on 9/9/16 and a week later i went into surgery to get a lumpectomy and axillary node clearance. They removed 12 lymph nodes and only 1 was affected. My cancer is also a grade 3 and Estrogen +, Progesterone + and HER2 -
Unfortunately my surgical margin has not been clear and I will have to go back to surgery with a possibility of a mastectomy this time.
Being faced with the idea of a looming death has been the scariest so far. But the saddest I have experienced is the idea that I may not be able to conceive naturally and I am currently looking at fertility preservation before starting chemo. I am looking into genetic testing to see if my genes mutated and I now carry the cancer gene.
I am trying to keep strong but I have given in to my tears and sadness on days. I am worried about chemo and for someone who likes to be control, the idea of the unknown is scary. I hate the idea of being a burden to my partner who will now also take a role of being a carer. We've only been together for 6 months and all i want to do with him is travel, explore the world and experience the romance of being in love. But I am lucky he has been supportive and still sticking by me.
I am surprised at the number of people under 35 who are being diagnosed more frequently recently- is there something in the waters? I have always thought this was a disease for the older woman but if there's one lesson I've learnt, is that this cancer doesn't discriminate and can happen to anyone at whatever age.
