Hi my name is Viv and I was diagnosed in April.What a shock that was!! I have just had a left mastectomy and sentinal node biopsy. I go back to the surgeon next Tues for the results. I am v scared on many levels. I am still getting used to the new me and I am finding it a litlle less difficult each day but the threat of cancer in my lymph nodes and then possibly elsewhere looms on my shoulder every day. I am numb in the area where my breast was, I guess I have to call it my chest now. I have to get used to this new body and I still don't know what else it has in store for me.

Hi, I was diagnosed a yr ago, had a mastectomy and chemo. Some weeks are better than others in regards to losing my breast. I think time will be a big healer. I felt numb when i finished my treatment, it was like ok here i am with one breast and no hair...now what? I am back at work fulltime and doing ok. I just had my annual scan, mamogram and xray and was terrified of the results. Thankfully they were all clear. I have been on antidepressants since just after i was diagnosed and think they help.

Hi Viv, The waiting at each stage was the absolute worst bit for me. Once you have answers from your path results the anxiety will likely decrease as you can focus on the next step, whatever that may be. My surgery (bilteral mastectomy and tissue expanders three weeks ago) and chemo were no fun but strangely OK once they were underway and the worrying was replaced by a practical reality. Schedule nice things at regular intervals, stay online and check out support groups in your area especially if you have no friends who have been through this with whom you can talk honestly. Be patient with the friends who tell you 'you will be fine' and 'you just have to keep positive'. It is very difficult for them to really empathise! Helen

Hi Tonya, Thanks so much for your words of support. If I know I am going to feel a bit like my old self in due course I can handle whatever is to come. Hearing you are a year down the track gives me hope that there is life after breast cancer.Sometimes it doesn't feel like it. I will keep on here as the ladies, like yourself, are just wonderful. Many thanks again Tonya

Hi Leonie, Thankyou so much for your reply. It helps enourmously to hear from others out there who have been in the exact same position and have, or are, coming out the other side. Strong women like yourself and the support of others is making a huge difference. I look forward to the day I am a year down the track and support others on this site.

my pending results of my biopsy | BCNA Online Network

11 Replies

hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Thank you ladies so much. Your words of support help so much. It makes a difference to speak to ladies that are going or have gone through the same thing and that there is life after BC. I don't feel so alone and I don't now feel like it is a death sentence but more, in the words of one lovely lady, an inerruption in a life full of ups and downs. I hope to keep in touch with you all on this adventure we have all been thrust into.
hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Thank you ladies so much. Your words of support help so much. It makes a difference to speak to ladies that are going or have gone through the same thing and that there is life after BC. I don't feel so alone and I don't now feel like it is a death sentence but more, in the words of one lovely lady, an inerruption in a life full of ups and downs. I hope to keep in touch with you all on this adventure we have all been thrust into.
hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Thanks Leonie,

that is something I am going to hang onto to get me through. Being in your position a year down the track. XX
hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Hi Helen,

Yes I am finding the waiting the worst, it's the not knowing. I don't want Tuesday to come because at the moment I have the hope that everyting will be ok but if the result is bad on Tues then i wont even have that. Wierd logic I know but that is what this thing is doing to me. I expect once the treatment is underway then I will be able to deal with it as something is being done, I have a pl;an, as you say. I had a best friend who had breast cancer about 2 years ago and sadly it took her life very quickly so it is so good to be on here and talk to survivors of this thing. It is very re-assuring, as when I found out my first thought was my friend and how it ended for her. I definitely will stay on this site i am finding it a godsend. Take care Helen.
hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Hey Mezza,

Congrats on getting the all clear! I don't know what's in store for me yet. If I need an axillary clearance and chemo then so be it, I guess. The chemo scares me but also the thought of it getting the better of me and me not surviving this. But all I have heard on this site are stories by women who have beaten this thing and go on to have good lives so I know I am just panicking here. When did you start back at work? I am hoping to go back within 6 months even if I need chemo. Is that too ambitious? I am on anti-deppressants too, the diagnosis was a real jolt. I will keep on this site . All the women on here are just wonderful and a real help!! Many thanks!!
Leonie_Moore
Member
15 years ago
And when you do offer your "story" and how you handled issues, it is a great feeling to be able to help someone. As Oprah Winfrey says "It is all in the giving". It won't happen now but before you know it you will be helping someone. XLeonie
hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Hi Leonie,

Thankyou so much for your reply. It helps enourmously to hear from others out there who have been in the exact same position and have, or are, coming out the other side. Strong women like yourself and the support of others is making a huge difference. I look forward to the day I am a year down the track and support others on this site.
hippyviv
Member
15 years ago
Hi Tonya,

Thanks so much for your words of support. If I know I am going to feel a bit like my old self in due course I can handle whatever is to come. Hearing you are a year down the track gives me hope that there is life after breast cancer.Sometimes it doesn't feel like it. I will keep on here as the ladies, like yourself, are just wonderful. Many thanks again Tonya
helena
Member
15 years ago
Hi Viv,

The waiting at each stage was the absolute worst bit for me. Once you have answers from your path results the anxiety will likely decrease as you can focus on the next step, whatever that may be. My surgery (bilteral mastectomy and tissue expanders three weeks ago) and chemo were no fun but strangely OK once they were underway and the worrying was replaced by a practical reality. Schedule nice things at regular intervals, stay online and check out support groups in your area especially if you have no friends who have been through this with whom you can talk honestly. Be patient with the friends who tell you 'you will be fine' and 'you just have to keep positive'. It is very difficult for them to really empathise!

Helen
mezza
Member
15 years ago
Hi, I was diagnosed a yr ago, had a mastectomy and chemo. Some weeks are better than others in regards to losing my breast. I think time will be a big healer. I felt numb when i finished my treatment, it was like ok here i am with one breast and no hair...now what? I am back at work fulltime and doing ok. I just had my annual scan, mamogram and xray and was terrified of the results. Thankfully they were all clear. I have been on antidepressants since just after i was diagnosed and think they help.