Hi @Lefty1166,so very sorry we have to "meet" under these circumstances, yes, it does come as a shock, my diagnosis was similar to yours, at first it was thought to be early breast cancer, however when staging scans were done, they found IT also in my liver and my spine plus the 3 tumours in my left breast, well, that was a game changer I can tell you, my oncologist said it too late for surgery, so it was chemotherapy straightaway, and nearly 4 and a half years down the track I am on my 6th line of treatment - so as you say one day at a time, we are living WITH cancer not dying from it, at least thats how I like to look at it, I have 2 other significant health issues as well so to have this really pissed me off, it WAS not part of my retirement plans I can tell you, HOWEVER, it does get better,you have a lot to come to terms with and you will do it in your own way and in your own time, there are a lot of resources and support you can access, I wont go into all that now as its too much to take in, when you are ready ask questions, plenty of questions,we are all here to help you in any way we can, I too live in the country except its south australia,so we also face other hurdles as opposed to our city friends, I do hope that you can access a McGrath Breast Care nurse if you havent already, please take advantage of everything that BCNA has to offer in terms of counselling ie they have their own oncology and breast care nurses available to help you, just pick up the phone and dial the 1800 number,YOU CAN DO THIS, slowly, and one foot in front of the other, one day at a time, each day will and night will be different, and yet somehow we manage, with love and support from those around us and sometimes from unexpected places, some people will step up and some people will step back, not because they dont love you, simply because they do not know what to say or do,
I love Brenda5"s comment that we are" high maintenance", I suppose we are in a sense,however just for now, stop, take a breath, look around you - collect your thoughts - and it will get a little better, you will regain the sense of control that you
probably feel that you have lost,
Wendy55