I was just diagnosed with Breast cancer on Nov. 19th

You may want to have a significant other or good friend accompany you to your appointment.  Sometimes having an extra set of eyes and ears helps plus that emotional support will also give your spirits a boost.  Take paper and pen so you can take notes during your appointment.  Sometimes one doesn't necessarily hear everything that is being said during the appointment.  You may also want to prepare a list of questions so that you get questions that may be swirling in your head answered by the oncologist.  Here is a link to the main BCO.org website in the Diagnosis Section that may help you prepare the list of questions.... http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/dr_questions and here are the questions themselves...

• Is this breast cancer invasive, non-invasive, or both invasive and non-invasive?
• Is the breast cancer more aggressive or less aggressive?
• Are the surgical margins negative, close, or positive? If negative, how wide were they?
• Are there any cancer cells present in lymph channels or blood vessels?
• What do the hormone receptor tests show? Am I a candidate for medicine that lowers or blocks the effects of estrogen?
• Which of these HER2 tests was performed on the tissue? 
  • IHC (ImmunoHistoChemistry) test
  • FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) test
  • SPoT-Light HER2 CISH (Subtraction Probe Technology Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization) test
  • Inform HER2 Dual ISH (Inform Dual In Situ Hybridization) test
• Is the HER2 test positive, negative, or borderline? Am I a candidate for HER2-targeted therapy?
• Is there cancer in any lymph nodes? If so, how many lymph nodes are involved?
• Am I eligible for a genomic assay such as Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, or Mammostrat?
• If any of my test results were unclear, would you recommend testing the tissue again?
• Is any further surgery recommended based on my results?
• Which treatments are most likely to work for this specific cancer, based on my pathology report results?

You may want to start a notebook to help you keep track of the medical info that you are collecting as well as have a month to month calendar so you can write down your appointments for doctors and any additional tests.  Yes.... you  can ask for copies of any of your test results.  If you have time, make a lists of all of your doctors, closest 24 hour pharmacy, medications, prior surgeries/hospitalizations, food/drug/substance allergies.  You will find having all of this information handy will make it easier when you are filling out forms.

You may also want to visit the main BCO.org section on Treatment and Side Effects.  Here is the link to that section and you can read up on what is a treatment plan and the components of a treatment plan ( Ie surgery, chemo, radiation, hormone therapy, etc.) http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment.

Good luck and wishing you the best.....

JenfromMontana I was diagnosed on 11/17 (Surgeon called me on Sunday when he received the results of the core biopsy). Today I finalized all of the remaining doctor's appointments and procedures for surgery on 12/12. The genetic testing typical testing time was 2 weeks but the genetics team was able to send it priority so I got my results back in 6 days. Then I could make the final surgery decision. My surgeon's office scheduled my surgery before the results were back.

I pushed for a surgery date in early December so I could recover in 2013 and start back in 2014 (if I have recovery time in 2014 I would lose vacation days).

I started keeping a journal just for this journey. It helps my anxiousness. Also schedule in some time to see friends/family. I think it has helped a couple of friends and my sister to be more comfortable when they are kept up to date on the process.

I told one of my guy friends last Friday. Saturday he called to have dinner together. We just chatted and talked about families, relationships, work, and "old times." This gave him some time to make sure I was doing ok.

Get out of the house for all of those meetings and events that you have put off "until you have time"

Use some of the anxiousness to start getting the house ready. I am doing the deep cleaning so my daughter and husband will be able to clean the house on their own for a couple of months.

Holiday gifts and cards - get the information together so someone can follow the instructions and take care of it for you!

For me delegating processes to my team while I am recovering is key to my team being successful and reduces my stress. It is also the end of the year so reviews and reporting need to get done so it is not my usual work.

These are just some of the tips that have worked for me. Today I feel at peace knowing that there are dates for the remaining open items.

Feel free to message me if you want to chat more!

Sincerely,

Nancy