Talking about new diagnosis, treatment
I was diagnosed on 5/8 and am waiting for a date for surgery. So much is unknown about treatment until my pathology results come back. I have an amazing family and friends but am struggling to talk wi...
Forum Discussion
@RozMoz Welcome aboard!! You have found a new group of friends here that will help & guide you all the way!
I come from a small country town & chose not to tell anyone apart from my boss & coworker, close family & 2 other friends. My in-laws still dont know & many of my friends. It's nice to walk up the street & not be confronted with being bombarded with questions, even though they all mean well, or the opposite of having people avoid me! I'm glad I made that choice as I am 18 months post surgery & feeling great & not having to have chemo & losing my hair helped keep my secret!
I would advise to jump on the McGrath website & find a breast care nurse nearest to you. You can put in your location & then chose someone close to you. The website gave me my nearest nurse & her email so I contacted her by email & introduced myself & told her my story. I then emailed her all my path/medical reports as they came in so she knew what i was dealing with. They are medically trained so can answer all your questions & they can counsel you & your family through it all.
Take someone with you to ALL appts for another ear to listen. take lots of notes or record the appt. Beforehand, write down all your questions so you are prepared.
Try not to worry too much, easier said than done, before your results come in as you dont know what you are dealing with yet. This would also make it hard to talk to family when you dont know whats ahead. Things change all the time so focus on what you do know when the report comes back & try not to over think as cancer feeds on stress so you wont do yourself any favours by worrying about something that may not even happen. Be kind to yourself & you will know when it is time to talk about it & your family/friends will hopefully respect that. Take all favours of food & help that is offered & one step at a time. love & strength xx
I come from a small country town & chose not to tell anyone apart from my boss & coworker, close family & 2 other friends. My in-laws still dont know & many of my friends. It's nice to walk up the street & not be confronted with being bombarded with questions, even though they all mean well, or the opposite of having people avoid me! I'm glad I made that choice as I am 18 months post surgery & feeling great & not having to have chemo & losing my hair helped keep my secret!
I would advise to jump on the McGrath website & find a breast care nurse nearest to you. You can put in your location & then chose someone close to you. The website gave me my nearest nurse & her email so I contacted her by email & introduced myself & told her my story. I then emailed her all my path/medical reports as they came in so she knew what i was dealing with. They are medically trained so can answer all your questions & they can counsel you & your family through it all.
Take someone with you to ALL appts for another ear to listen. take lots of notes or record the appt. Beforehand, write down all your questions so you are prepared.
Try not to worry too much, easier said than done, before your results come in as you dont know what you are dealing with yet. This would also make it hard to talk to family when you dont know whats ahead. Things change all the time so focus on what you do know when the report comes back & try not to over think as cancer feeds on stress so you wont do yourself any favours by worrying about something that may not even happen. Be kind to yourself & you will know when it is time to talk about it & your family/friends will hopefully respect that. Take all favours of food & help that is offered & one step at a time. love & strength xx