IDC to statrt Chem next week

Hi Mimidi - sorry you have joined the club that no one wants to join.  There is a January 2011 chemo thread that you might find helpful.  Lots of wonderful women who are fighting this crappy disease with some helpful information and so very supportive.

Feel free to ramble, rant and vent.  We will all get though this and survive. 

I just wanted to say I am sorry you are among us.  I will be starting chemo next month but I only have 4 cycles every 3 weeks.  I already got through the BLMX and am in process on the reconstruction. It is hard....there is a lot of anxiety.  My cancer center had social workers to talk to which helped when I was first diagnosed.  I also got an anti anxiety med for night time.  Night was the worst for me.  I hated the silence in the dark....my mind would just go!  Now I take a xanax and relax and within an hour I am sleeping well.  I never like taking meds even for a headache, but this is helping me right now at a hard time.  If you need a sleep aid or something to calm you, your doctors will be supportive.  This is a lot to deal with and it's hard to try to move through it on your own.  I was onl diagnosed on 12/13/10 and I can tell you as you get moving into treatment it does get a bit easier because you are actually doing something and getting rid of the cancer.  It's the fear and waiting that drove me crazy.  Best of luck to you.  HUGS!!!

HI LADIES, I  AM NEW HERE AND OVERWHELMED.I AM 44 RECENTLY HAD FIRST MAMMOGRAM AND WAS CALLED BACK FOR ULTRASOUND AND BIOPSY SAME DAY AND TOLD 3 DAYS LATE THAT I  HAD INVASIVE DUCTAL CARCINOMA .I WENT IN FOR LUMPECTOMY OF 1.5 TUMOR WHICH WAS PART DUCTAL AND LOBAL?? 6 LYMPHNODES WERE TAKEN WITH 1 SENTINAL HAVING MICROMET..7 DAYS LATER FOUND OUT DID NOT GET CLEAR MARGINS SO BACK IN AGAIN AND ANOTHER 5 LYMPHNODES AUXILLARY..WITH AGAIN 1 MICROMET..CAME HOME IN AGONY WITH JP DRAIN FOR 8 DAYS AND NOW SUFFER NERVE DAMAGE ALONG UNDER SIDE OF ARM, PAINFUL TO TOUCH. MET MY ONC ON MONDAY AND WILL START CHEMO NEXT WEDNESDAY AND AM TERRIFIED. .I;M HEAVYSET AND FEAR THE AMOUNT OF TOXIC MEDS TO MY BODY AND SIDE EFFECTS..CAN BARELY FUNCTION. I HAVE NEVER BEEN GIVEN A PROGNOSIS OR A PLAN REALLY, JUST TREATMENT EVERY THREE WEEKS THEN RADIATION FOR 6 WEEKS AND TAMOXIFEN , I NEED MORE ENTHUSIATIC DR'S OR AT LEAST TO PROVIDE SOME SENSE OF HOPE..VERY BUSINESS LIKE AND FEELING CONFUSED,HAS ANYONE ELSE BEEN IN A SIMILAR SITUATION??I GUESS ITS JUST THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN THAT PLAYS WITH YOUR MIND...NOT KNOWING WILL I BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS, GO TO WORK, GET THRU THIS SAFELY??

Hi YME123, I am so sorry for your distress. I found that I went into a kind of numb shock in the first couple of weeks. I had a left breast mastectomy with reconstruction with TRAM flap on 11/24/2010. It's now been 3 and 1/2 months and only just feel as if I can look at the whole thing with a clear head. I have been reading all the letters from surgeons/oncologists to my GP as well as going over my pathology results and reading up everything there is so I fully understand what I have. This has given me a greater sense of control and ownership of this process and I feel a lot calmer. You are in recovery mode right now and you have to be very gentle with yourself. Make sure your close friends and family are part of your recovery and surround yourself with people who will give to you unconditionally whilst you need them. Good luck, it does get easier and better xxx Linda