Trying to make sense of it all.....

I am Grade 1. I had two tumours in my breast. The 2cm one caused breast changes which sent me to my GP. The second tumour was seen on ultrasound but not tested and my surgeon and I decided he should remove it as well. That also came back as Grade 1 but it was on 2mm. I think I was stage 2 because of the size of the first tumour. That’s what my Dr put on the request form for the Endopredict. I have clear margins and my nodes were clear. I have much of the same reaction as you. It’s early breast cancer and it’s very treatable but some days I have felt fragile. My mum had to wait over Christmas and  we knew her cancer was terminal. To some effect, being mum to a family that has endured a fair bit of trauma, I have learned to suppress my emotions which is not good. We are a very resilient family and with adult children who are professionals, we are able to process emotions effectly. This breast cancer has been a shock to me. There is a lot of emotion that I hadn’t processed and I found myself getting angry at my mum, even though she is now passed away. I think it’s part of the grieving process and I have asked to see a psychiatrist, mainly because I am on medication for anxiety and depression. My GP is pushing for a psychologist. That’s ok but they can’t manage medication. I think what I have taken from the replies here is that it is still cancer. It is very important to have the radiotherapy to kill off any remaining cells that they have not seen. After radiotherapyi will be prescribed Tamoxifen which I will have to take for 5 years or more. I met the radiotherapy oncologist and I am settled. I do much better when I know what’s going on and I think that’s has been the crux of my reactions because it happened over the Christmas period. It will be ok. 

Hi Janine60, so I'll give my post another go since I screwed up the first one, thought it posted and it didn't.  I was dx 21st Dec, 2017 with stage 1, grade 1A bc, hormone positive and Her2 negative so not the worst diagnosis but a cancer diagnosis always seems to incite fear.  

In 2010 my eldest daughter (Rachel) @ 27 yrs was dx with 3rd stage bc (no family history prior to this that we know of).  As she was so young obviously it was devastating news and as a mum watching her go through the various treatments I was heartbroken.  (She is a type 1 diabetic since 9 yrs old).  My youngest daughter, (Jessica) and I are also type 1 diabetics (juvenile diabetes).  Remembering Rachel's struggles through Mastectomy within 3 weeks of dx followed by IVF, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and finally reconstruction which she had major problems and had to remove tissue expanders for six months and re-do the whole thing again left me very wary.  Now that I have told you about our short history in bc.  I am always curious to read how other people feel, react and cope with their individual cases trying to find leveling ground for my own feelings.

My lumpectomy (plus Sentinel Node biopsy - clear) was on 10th Jan, 2018 and at my follow up appt Dr. advised there wasn't a clear margin and he'd have to go in again and remove more tissue.  I am 10 days post this and all is well awaiting Radiotherapy consultation on Wednesday.  It all seems pretty straightforward according to my doctor and so many friends etc.  I feel totally well and coping really fine, yet every now and then feeling a bit shell shocked - am I a wimp?  I don't know, maybe I am.

All that being said I realise I'm quite lucky in that my treatment is way less than my poor daughter and the prognosis is great.  My only question at this time is about the five years hormone treatment - I knew Tamoxifen was an option but my doctor has prescribed Femara which I heard had much worse side effects than Tamoxifen.  I realise everyone is different so it may not be the case for me.  Does anyone have any information or they can share with me on this?  I am telling this story now so that I can look back in a few months/years time and hopefully go, wow so glad it's all over!!!

Thanks for reading my little blurb.

61 yrs young
dx 21/12/2017 Stage 1 Grade 1A
Hormones positive and HER2 negative
Lumpectomy 10/1/2018
Re-excision 24/1/2018
Radiotherapy - yet to happen
Femara for 5 years

Hi Janine60, so I'll give my post another go since I screwed up the first one, thought it posted and it didn't.  I was dx 21st Dec, 2017 with stage 1, grade 1A bc, hormone positive and Her2 negative so not the worst diagnosis but a cancer diagnosis always seems to incite fear.  

In 2010 my eldest daughter (Rachel) @ 27 yrs was dx with 3rd stage bc (no family history prior to this that we know of).  As she was so young obviously it was devastating news and as a mum watching her go through the various treatments I was heartbroken.  (She is a type 1 diabetic since 9 yrs old).  My youngest daughter, (Jessica) and I are also type 1 diabetics (juvenile diabetes).  Remembering Rachel's struggles through Mastectomy within 3 weeks of dx followed by IVF, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and finally reconstruction which she had major problems and had to remove tissue expanders for six months and re-do the whole thing again left me very wary.  Now that I have told you about our short history in bc.  I am always curious to read how other people feel, react and cope with their individual cases trying to find leveling ground for my own feelings.

My lumpectomy (plus Sentinel Node biopsy - clear) was on 10th Jan, 2018 and at my follow up appt Dr. advised there wasn't a clear margin and he'd have to go in again and remove more tissue.  I am 10 days post this and all is well awaiting Radiotherapy consultation on Wednesday.  It all seems pretty straightforward according to my doctor and so many friends etc.  I feel totally well and coping really fine, yet every now and then feeling a bit shell shocked - am I a wimp?  I don't know, maybe I am.

All that being said I realise I'm quite lucky in that my treatment is way less than my poor daughter and the prognosis is great.  My only question at this time is about the five years hormone treatment - I knew Tamoxifen was an option but my doctor has prescribed Femara which I heard had much worse side effects than Tamoxifen.  I realise everyone is different so it may not be the case for me.  Does anyone have any information or they can share with me on this?  I am telling this story now so that I can look back in a few months/years time and hopefully go, wow so glad it's all over!!!

Thanks for reading my little blurb.


61 yrs young_dx 21/12/2017
Stage 1_Grade 1A_IDC_no lymph nodes involved
Hormone positive and HER2 negative
Lumpectomy 10/1/2018
Re-excision 24/1/2018
Radiotherapy - yet to happen
Femara for five years

Crusty - we used to live in Brisbane, in Ferny Grove but made the move south four and a half years ago to be near family. I have seen my oncologist once and he has made the referral to radiology but I haven’t heard when that is going to happen yet. I guess I’ll find out when I next see my oncologist on Feb 1.

Hi @onemargie yes had oncology appointment on tuesday so I'll be starting chemo next week which is 7wks after surgery. We did try ringing around but got no where as bc nurse was on holiday and no social worker at redlands but the pa hospital finally rang on friday last week .  I'll be having a masectomy in 6 months as i have dcis on all margins and 6 months of chemo in the meantime.  I live on one of the islands in the southern morton bay so its a bit of a trip to the pa hospital (especially with 3 yr old in tow) and the hospital only does chemo in the afternoons so gonna be some late nights home.
Thanks for your concern i don't really have any other family around just my husband and kids and we've only been on the island for 12 months .
Thankyou.

Hi there @Janine60 how did you got with your appointment? Please let us know. Hope you are ok. And @Crusty surely you must of had your appointment too now also ?. And that’s bullshit you have both had to wait that long.  Like some of the other ladies said it’s the waiting that’s the worst I think. Once you’ve got your plan then you can start to get your head around it. I hope you have both been able to contact your breast care nurse or at the very least the social worker at the hospital for some support or the BCNA Hotline perhaps. And no matter what stage your bc is at it has its challenges and anxiety is a normal feeling and so is feeling fragile, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Shit I remember when I was first diagnosed and I saw my so called bc nurse and I walked away thinking fuck I’m going to die that’s it. Then thankfully I saw my oncol and felt so much better even though chemo was part of my treatment plan at least I knew where I was at after that. I then had another issues with the bc nurse and she was no support at all and to be honest I hardly ever heard from her which was disappointing but Im glad as she was pretty ordinary. So I took things into my own hands and found out about all the support services available myself and I got a lot of satisfaction about that as I now get to pass that info onto bc survivors in my local area. @Crusty where abouts in qld are you?  Perhaps I can help you?  I’m brisbane north side. Feel free to PM me if you like. Margie xx

@Janine60 I’ve just started my radiation treatment (5/20) and my understanding from discussions with both my surgeon & Rad onc is that the minimum time between surgery & starting radiotherapy is 6 weeks  (to allow healing to be complete) and to get the expected risk reduction benefits it should be commenced within 4 months of surgery.
 However as Soldiercrab suggests I’m sure the helpline can give you some credible references and I would certainly hassle the radiology folks about appointment times.
Be aware that after that initial consult, you will need to have a planning CT scan and then your rad onc will need some time to develop your plan, so there will be a delay between first visit and actually starting treatment. I saw the rad onc on 4/1, had planning CT on 9/1 and commenced treatment on 18/1.

@Janine60 and GA sorry it is hard to tag you with only 2 letters in your name ...
You are both eligible to get some counselling under a mental health plan no matter how small or large your diagnosis is.... 

why not call the helpline at BCNA 

The phone number for the BCNA helpline is 1800 500 258. 

Helpline hours are 9am to 5pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 
and 
9am to 9pm on Tuesday and Thursday. 
Calls to the helpline are free of charge when made from a landline and charged at standard rates when made from a mobile phone.

They can help you to clarify the concerns you have and let you know about local services.

GA it must be hard I have 2 boys with autism and the stress it put on my daughter then 15 to care for us all while I was very unwell, was hard. see what practical supports are available to you all. 

we are here and will always try to support you both and the team at BCNA helpline do a great job. 

I think we qualify. Kath said that in her post - people do die of Grade 1 cancers. I needed to hear that. I think I nudge stage 2 because the larger tumour was 2cm. I think it has to be less than 2cm to qualify as stage 1. My head tells me all the correct things and I think I cut myself short - it’s still cancer. I accepted the Endopredict. It’s very expensive but it will tell me around the potential to recur which is what I want to know. For us, logistically, it’s going to be a nightmare because we do not have radiotherapy in Shepparton. We have chosen to go to Bendigo and my husband is saying we’ll commute each day, to allow at least some of the day be predictable and we’ll be home each day. My two adult boys have intellectual disabilities which are severe. Their sister will fill in as much as possible. I am not sure how that is going to look for me yet. I think we need to acknowledge we do in fact have cancer although it is very treatable. I know that I haven’t been able to predict my emotions either and I have had a few ‘wobbly’ days. The women in this thread have been very supportive of me. Hugs. Good luck with your surgery and let us know how you go. Janine. 

Hi @Janine60
I'm a week post diagnosis heading for surgery next week. Stage 1 T1 and I'm not sure whether I qualify given it is so early and so treatable. 
I've been good emotionally but hit a wall today. 

I've felt a bit like my hand has been forced in letting people know because my sister told my mum before it was fully diagnosed. I've been in catch up mode and feeling responsible for everyone else's emotions. I know that's not necessarily rational. Telling my 12 & 14 yo nephew and niece was easier and less fraught than I expected. 

I've had a couple of super stressful years so I'm not really surprised.