Diagnosis - not so good

Hi Helen, the beginning of this ordeal is tough, particularly the tests, pathology results, the waiting and the information overload, it can all feel too much. Hopefully you have a copy of the My Journey kit, I found it to be a really useful resource and helped me to understand a lot of the new medical terms I was currently hearing. It also helped me to work out what questions to ask my surgeon and oncologists. Taking someone with you to appointments can be really helpful too as I'm sure I often only heard the headlines and very little of the full story!

I was also triple positive (both hormones & HER2 positive), with 3 invasive tumours and 1 lymph node affected. While scary, it was ultimately very treatable and I am almost 4 yrs on from that initial diagnosis. My treatment included a mastectomy, 5 months of chemo, 12 months of Herceptin (for the HER2 + tumour), radiotherapy and am now on Tamoxifen (anti-hormone tablets). I finished active treatment in July 2013 and have since gone on to have reconstruction. I also had 2 school aged children, and it was a tough year for both me and the kids, but both their schools were fantastic supports and hopefully this will be the case for you too.

Because there is so much to get your head around and it can all seem overwhelming, it is useful to try and take it one day / one step at a time - frustrating for we organisers / control freaks - but ultimately a good strategy to riding the BC roller coaster. Best wishes, Jane xx