2012 sisters

Best of luck juneaubug!

halfcan: yay for feeling good.  So happy for you. 

Jen- Welcome! I understand being scared. We are right here for you. Feel free to vent ask as many questions, one of us (or alot of us), will give you advice or be here just to agree with you.

Should've said that the beginning is the scariest part.   Once you have a plan in place it does get easier, really.   I am sure all of us felt exactly the same at the beginning... now we talk it all out whatever we are feeling.  Its a roller coaster of a ride... as you said YOU WILL SURVIVE !

I hope your day was a wonderful one, Juneau! 

Jen- yes take lots of breaths, without hyperventilating . All will work out fine. If your husband is anything like mine, he will be your biggest cheerleader. Unfortunately, all the tests just come at you non-stop. I was diagnosed in May 2012. Here's how my testing went.

may 21 mammo,  may 22 bilateral sonograms may 23 bilateral biopsies Lt stereotactic core bx  Rt sono guided bx  may 24 wait/ angry/ cry/wait/angry may 25 @1115 got results Rt breast non cancerous fibroadenoma Lt breast IDC  June 1 meet with BS  June 5 BMX  June 9th meet with Onc  June 10th bone density and Ct chest/abd/pel  June 11th Nuclear medicine whole body bone scan.  Sept 11 TE's placed and hopefully 12-4 exchange surgery. Don't try to think about the negative things right now. Think about how you are going to kick Cancers butt and be there for your kiddos and your husband. Thinking positive goes along way. Trust me. If you need to talk feel free to PM me or for that fact any of us. We are here for you, we are big cheerleaders too.

christy

Hi Jen, I'm glad you found this group.  It's so hard at first.  For me the first couple months were the worst-- almost continual panic.  It gets easier.  One thing that seems to happen to everyone is every little ache and pain or unusual bump we never noticed before now causes us to think "oh no, cancer!" but try not to assume the worst, you won't really know until the test results are back. Keep breathing and do what you can to keep stress under control  Ask for anti-anxiety meds if you need to.

marian: you know what helped that disgusting mud pool taste in the mouth for me... red apples.  It was the only thing that actually tasted as it should.   That is lovely lady who blew kisses - wow! love those stories

jenjen: deep breaths hun.  This really is the hardest part.  The waiting just plain sucks.  You'll feel as though you are going from appointment to appointment.  I had all the scans at the beginning.  Yes, they saw something in my left boob too.. my Onc said we think its only a cyst and if it is anything the chemo will kill it.... no consolation I know.  I also had the bone/ct scans - all clear and positive vibes to you for the same.  Never, ever feel you have to apologise for how you are here and you dont need to ask for our patience either... we get it.    This site can save your sanity.   No matter how supportive your husband is they still have no idea of what we are going through... we all get it here so just get those emotions out - do not bottle them up.   When I was dx'd in January I never ever thought I'd have an end date.  Now I do.  After chemo, surgery and now rads my end date is November 14.    Yeah OK have to have hormone blockers for 5 years but whatever to keep bc at bay.   You will get your spunk and spirit back .. tenfold but for now focus on you and kicking cancers butt.

Ann: so true eh? every pain/ache/bump used to be oh no cancer.   Now... not so much.

Its a beautiful day here in the Okanagan so nice to see the sunshine again.  Hugs and love to all you beautiful wonderful ladies xx

Jenjenl, I am so sorry that you have to go through this anxiety. One would think you have enough on your plate as it is?! However, worry won't change the outcome, but it will make you very miserable. So try to stay busy, and do take Ann's excellent advice. People don't believe it, but this is actually the worst stage of the whole ordeal. Nothing can compare to that initial, paralysing shock of being told you have bc, and then the waiting for tests, scans and results - it really is hell on earth. After a while you sort of get used to it, and it is not so scary any more. Weird, but true. Keep us posted, please? You will find comfort here, guaranteed. (((BIG HUGS!!!)))

Juneau, can't wait to hear how your first day was at the new job. I'm sure you have charmed everybody there!

Marian, experiences like the one you had with that friendly cashier make this journey more bearable. People everywhere were super friendly and nice to me too as soon as they realized what was going on. It was amazing and uplifting. I remember one young assistant at a beauty counter in The Bay. She found out what was going on, got tears in her eyes, and it turned out she was giving Look Good, Feel Better classes. She gave me a bag of free Lancome products, and actually came around the counter to hug me when I left . . . it meant so much to me. Good for you on keeping up the yoga through chemo - I did not have the energy, and was too embarrassed by my bald head anyway, stupid of me, I know. Should give people more credit.

Tazzy, I'm jealous of your sunshine!

Hugs to you Jen, nothing else to offer that the others haven't already. The waiting for results is the worst part.  Hang in there, positive thoughts your way!

Ladies up north:  PLEASE LET THAT SUNSHINE COME OVER THE BORDER!!! I am so tired of seeing and walking in the gray that I actually shut the shades and turned the lights on.  I love Seattle weather and my favorite times are the fall and winter, but really, just an hour of sunshine would do me good. 

Yes my hubby can come with me tomorrow so that helps.  I am reading up on all the chemo meds and trying to come up with the appropriate questions.  From what I have heard this guy is brilliant but not a warm and fuzzy guy.  I don't want him to hug me and rub my hair just fix me.  I'll let you know my feeling on him tomorrow. 

Hope people up north are starting to get power.  My parents just got it.  In fact whenI have to talk to my mom she used to have to go to the liqior store...LMAO!

Hi ladies -  I've been lurking here for awhile but you're all so talkative and supportive I just can't keep up.  Just thought I'd let you know I'm here and so happy to see those of you that are nearing the end of this mess.  I'm just at the "hair fell out this week" stage of things.  Chemo #2 coming up on Thursday.  So glad to be past all the testing, waiting, testing, waiting . . . Now it's time to just hunker down and get rid of any cancer that's lurking.  Of course my only symptom was a big lump under my left arm and now I've got another one.  My brain knows it is just scar tissue but it still freaks me out sometimes!

Maryah...happy to share our sunshine with you! I am 2 hours north of Seattle and it has been a beautiful day. It's been a month since chemo started and today I walked over 2 miles and it felt good to do some light hiking. Flat trails mind you but I'm very happy with this day!

Welcome Beth. :-). I hope you find this place as comforting as I do!

Tazzy...today was ultimate awesome! Tomorrow is back to the wet stuff for a few days at least. I feel blessed that I almost feel "normal" and no chemo again till the 14th!!! Must be the Nuepogen shots because round one never felt close to this good. :-). Thanks for that group hug again...it is my fav next to your grinning avatar! Hugs