my mum has been diagnosed with stage 2 and 3 breast cancer

snowydizzy123

hi everyone, my mum is a very strong person but i have heard her crying and it breaks me in two. i love her to pieces and i dont know what to do to help her through this. i have no idea about cancer but i have lost pets with it.can someone help me iwth the stages i cant ask my mum. she starts chemo and radiation therapy this month thank u x

Momine

I am sorry to hear about your mom. As a mom, my advice would be to listen to her and try to do some of the things you have always done together. When crisis hits, normal is nice.

What info do you have when it comes to the staging?

Ask your mom if she would like you to go along to the docs. It can be helpful for many patients to have a second set of ears, and it would also mean that you would be in the loop. 

snowydizzy123

thank u so much , all i was told about the stages was they are 2 and 3 and the doctors recon she has had it for 2 years. i have asked her but my grandad goes with her to the apointments. she had a masectomy just before christmas. she had benign in one breast and malignent in the other which they found after surgery was in her lymph nodes i think. im very raige on the details 

Momine

Hmmm, it sounds odd, because a cancer is not two stages at once. It may be that it is stage 2 and grade 3. The stage refers to how advanced it is, and the grade refers to how aggressive it is.

snowydizzy123

ok thank you. is this serious i hate to ask but i need to know 

Moderators

snowydizzy, there's more information about Stages of Breast Cancer at the main Breastcancer.org site. Just click on any of the stages to read more.

Welcome to BCO. You can count on support and advice from our wonderful Community members, as well as the resources of the main site.

Judith and the Mods

Momine

Yes, it is serious. I would not make it up. As I said, I can't be sure with the info you gave, but it sounds like one of those numbers is the stage and the other the grade. Unless she has two separate cancers, which it doesn't sound like.

snowydizzy123

ok thank u i am sorry as i have no idea whats going on

dlb823

snowdizzy, Stage 2 is considered early stage breast cancer.  It will require some treatment (typically surgery, and possibly chemotherapy and/or radiation), but the vast majority of women who get proper treatment are fine after they go through and recover from the treatment, which can be rough for a few months or even up to a year.  But the bottom line is, Stage 2 is very treatable, and there's no need for panic.  And if the fear of possibly losing a breast is depressing your Mum, she needs to look into reconstruction, which has become very advanced -- at least in the US, and I would assume in the UK, although I'm not sure of what's offered there.

I'm sorry about your Mum, but please be sure she knows that, based on what you've told us, she has an excellent prognosis!  And if her doctors aren't treating her that way, she absolutely needs to find more positive doctors!   Also, show her this website, so that we can help.  There's nothing as empowering as knowing you're not alone and that thousands of other women understand what you're going through.  (((Hugs))) to you, and it's wonderful that you're reaching out for both of you! Deanna  

snowydizzy123

thank u so much deanna, mum has had the mascetomy just waiting for her treatment to start should be soon, i dont like to ask her whats going on as i dont want to upset her, but as her daughter and the mother of her grandchildren i will do anything to be there throu this thank u for the hugs (((hugs back to you)))))