Just diagnosed, scared out of my mind!

First off - B R E A T H E.  I know that's easier said than done.  It's so hard to hear "The C Word" applied to oneself.  You're on the brink of a, hopefully short, but important section of your life.  In the same way that, if you were told you have diabetes, you will listen and research and worry that the outcome could be bad, but also understand that the odds are that your outcome will be good.  IDC is the most common and therefore very well researched type of breast cancer, the negative hormonal receptors isn't quite as good news, but then the grade 1 is again quite good. So you're probably about to hear a very great number regarding prognosis, and you'll go from there. Try not to put your cart before the horse because that won't get you anywhere.  Take it slow, take someone with you to appointments if possible, ask for copies of your reports so you can look at them at home calmly. You didn't mention a size or staging (you'll know more after any surgeries you have, when the pathology is firm and sizing and lymph node involvement is firm). But don't be in a rush to make decisions.  Everything will all happen in its due time. Think of the positives.  We live in a time when this is treatable - and that's a very short period in the history of mankind.

Keep busy, appreciate a crunchy toasted English muffin or a sunset with red orange and purples.  Your body is no different today than yesterday, but you are different because you know of one thing taking place inside it.  So hang on, hang in there, and I hope you'll be looking at The Big C in your rearview mirror before you know it.  This treatment is only a part of your life.

hopeful, I also remember it being like a roller coaster. Seems like every day I got a new phone call and one day it was good news, next day, not so good. I had like 5 biopsies prior to my surgery because I had areas in both breast that were a concern. In the end, the left side was cleared and the surgery was on the right. I think you will feel some degree of relief when you talk to the surgeon and get a better idea of what the plans are. I have been overweight for many years but other than that, I have always been healthy, never got all the things that were going around and all of that. So, I was not prepared for all these doctors appointments and poking and prodding that comes with all of this. I was glad I researched because when the doctor told me this or that, I knew what it was and knew if I needed to ask questions. I have a friend that is a nurse and she had a mastectomy the same week I had my first biopsy but when I asked if hers was invasive or non invasive, she said she didn't know, they didn't tell her. It was so odd to me that a nurse would not ask questions but she hasn't , she just goes along and seems happy with things that way, which works for some but its almost like I want to be prepared mentally next time and not feel so blindsided as I did this time so I got my pathology report out and looked up all the words I didn't understand and what drugs I have been given and understood why my doctor chose one over the other and it helps me feel in some control.

Hello new to this board.

@Hopefulmomo: I totally get where you are coming from. I am 38 and I was just diagnosed yesterday with IDC.

My pathology biopsy report says:

ER positive ( total score 8 PS: 5 IS ) Allred scoring method and PR positive ( same as above)

Have upcoming bone Scan, CT with contrast and MRI next week.

Doc says due to my age she wants to start out with chemo after next weeks more extensive diagnosis for screening out metastases etc.

I wondered if anyone knew how long til the chemo effect shows up ( would prefer delaying telling ppl at wotk til end of Dec )

IDCERPR:

There are many combinations of drugs used in chemo treatments, so the effects may vary. I had FEC-T treatment, which was 4 treatments of Fluorouracil Epirubicin Cyclophosphamide, 3 weeks apart over 12 weeks. This part of the treatment kind of wiped me out for a week. The 1st seven days after treatment, I felt yucky and tired, and it accumulated with each treatment. I never got sick and threw up, but just never felt right. And always on day 8 I was feeling good enough to go to work. My work was very supportive and allowed me to come to work when I felt like it and stay as long as I liked. The big thing for me was, on day 13 my hair started coming out. Three of my friends who had gone through chemo before me all told me that on day 13 their hair started coming out. So I was anxiously waiting for day 13 and it started coming out. However, I never lost my eyebrows and eyelashes until I was on the Taxol treatment.

My doctors moved very quickly with my treatment process as well, which was probably good now that I look back at it, as it didn't give me much time to worry. I still worried, but they had given me a schedule and that helped ease me somewhat once I knew what the plan was. Have they mentioned putting in a port? My doctor ordered on right away for me and that made chemo and all the blood draws for a year much easier.

Hey guys, since you are new to all this, I just wanted to let you know (cause when I had chemo for the first time, no one did) that there might be a way to save your hair. Using cold caps. I'm very new to this so I'm in no place to give more details but look up the topics here and you'll find tons of information and people willing to help. I believe the name of the topic is "cold caps past and present" or something like that. Hair is a BIG deal for me so I just wanted to share this information...

Good luck in your treatment and remember you are not alone!

Hopefulmom-

If you want some more info on cold caps, check out the topic Cold Cap Users, Past and Present in the "Help Me Get Through Treatment" forum. We also have some info on our main site that might be helpful and informative, which you can find here.

We know it's a a lot to process, especially in the beginning. And we know how scary it is. We're so glad you've joined our community, hopefully you're finding the support and information you need to help you through the start of this journey. Thinking of you!

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