Just diagnosis waiting surgery. Need advice

999gloria999

hello all. I am new to this. I was diagnosed with IDC on feb 15 waiting for lumpectomy with sentinel node biopsy march 30. My tumour is small 9 mm. My surgeon says likely stage 1 providing no surprises when they go in. Followed by radiation then hormone therapy. I know deep down I will be fine but cannot get bad thoughts out of my head that it is spreading into my bones. How did you deal with bad thoughts while waiting for s

gb2115

Honestly, one day at a time. One moment at a time. Think what you have to do next and do it. Get through that before the next thing. Let yourself cry and grieve that you have to go through this. It's ok. No amount of worrying will change the outcome, and I'm preaching to the choir on that...

999gloria999

Thank you gb2115. How are doing now? Post treatment.

Moderators

gb2115 is correct, and we certainly all here understand how difficult it is to turn off the scary thoughts. We are left working on, and supporting each other, in how to change our attitude around the thoughts, and better cope/manage throughout our days and nights. We hope that you can take care of yourself, get sleep, exercise, and continue to do what you enjoy doing. All this will help you stay strong, and distracted, to fight the fears. Naturally talking to others here, or professionals (e.g. therapists) can also be quite helpful.

We are here for you, and know you aren't alone!

999gloria999

Thank you. Already this evening I feel better than I did earlier.

gb2115

I am doing ok. Radiation was hard, but I kept having unusual allergic reactions to things along the way which added difficulty and discomfort, but if that hadn't happened I think it wouldn't have been too terrible. Surgery was really ok, other than my weird allergies. I am on tamoxifen now, which is fine. Now it's just waiting and watching....and waiting to see what else I'm all of a sudden allergic to, lol.

Something that really helped me early on was talking with a nurse navigator. Have you been put in touch with one of those? The radiology center that did my biopsy put a nurse navigator on my case immediately, and she was very helpful and soothing to talk with, especially in those early days. She was the one that called me with my pathology report and explained everything to me.

999gloria999

hi gb. I'm in Ontario Canada. I have no clue what a a nurse navigator is. I'm glad to hear you are doing well besides the allergies.

JSilb

The hardest period of time in all of this for me was the time after diagnosis when I was waiting for surgery. For me, it got a lot easier once the surgery was over, and I felt like I was actually doing something about the cancer instead of living in limbo. I tried to stay as busy as possible. I cooked a ton of food for my freezer even though I knew friends would help out with meals. It gave me the feeling that I was preparing for the fight. I organized everything for my kids and husband too. Are there any birthdays coming up soon after your surgery? I went through my calendar and brought gifts/cards for anyone whose birthday was within the 8 weeks following my surgery. Normally, I am not that organized, but I threw myself into "preparing" because it made me feel less helpless about the overall situation. I know this is hard, and it is completely normal, especially now, to be terrified. I am three years out, and I promise that it gets easier. You will learn to carry it in a way that doesn't weigh you down, but it just takes time. If you have a nurse navigator, lean on her. Don't be shy about reaching out to friends either. Sending you hugs and prayers. We've all been there.

Tpralph

999gloria999

where are you getting your surgery?  I'm in Ontario too and go to Princess Margaret in Toronto. They have nurse navigators there for each surgical oncologist. I think mine is Fe , she is dr mccreadys nurse but I think they also call her a nurse navigator as she makes sure all loose ends are tied.

I too am awaiting surgery. just had the MRI. lump found by me 10 months ago, thought it was another fibrocyst (have lots of them) but then seemed to grow in the fall= was going to SK and then florida over a 6 week period and figured id see my NP and get a mammogram even though I had just had one the year before. So mammogram susupicious, u/s and biopsy on the same day and 4 days later..voila IDC 1/4 cm, now seen microcalcifications in a different quadrant same breast.  Saw surgical oncologist who believes there is no node involvement and that is an early BC (I wonder if they tell all of us that), MRI yesterday to confirm size and extent etc and then see him again april 3, another mammogram and u/s the 7th. 

I wonder how long most of us get the surgery after biopsy confirmation?  this seems like a long time for a cancer to grow