Scared and in denial

I' m so sorry you are here but glad you found bco site.  Call your surgeon they will give you something for not only sleep but I also needed it for some Dr appts and tests. Hang in there you will feel alot better once a plan is in place. And it doesn't feel real and it won't for a while. The ladies here  get it and will help you. Good luck . So sorry

MaggieMae

I am right there with you- DX on Friday IDC less than 1cm. Call your doctor for anti-anxiety meds. I would even call the on call person and explain your situation. You are already suffering enough. I realize that everyone has their own feelings about anti-anxiety and I respect that as well, but worth asking about.

I look it at this way- if you were in physical pain, you would not hesitate to call right? I consider mental pain to be just as if not more excruciating. This is just my opinion on the matter.

I take clonazepam at night and it is a life saver for me.

My doctor had advised me to send the pathology slides for another opinion as well.

Take good care-

MT

Yup. Ativan.

Also, now is not the time for denial, it's time to plan your battle strategy with clear eyed determination to win. It is war and you CAN do it. Hugs!

sweetie, i also was prescribed ativan for sleep,we here know what your feeling, But i,m here to Inspire, i got thru it all,(Praise GOD and am now a 21 yr Survivor) i was diagnosed after i found my lump in shower, and while making wedding plans, talking bout overwhelm, went thru all stages u mentioned and more, so we ALL here are in my prayers daily, i got out my cry then decided to fight and stay Positive n have HOPE," that this too shall pass," one of my favorite scripture.  msphil (idc, stage2.0/3 nodes, L mast, chemo three months before and after surgery and 5 yrs on tamoxifen)

Maggiemae123....so sorry you are having to deal with this.  The initial dx is just mind boggling.  I had to take Xanax to help me get ghru the initial phase and I had never taken anti anxiety meds before.  It was a life saver.  You will get thru this....(((hugs))). 

Miss Maggie Mae
If you must get breast cancer, Grade 1, smaller than 2.0 centimeters is certainly one of the best diagnoses you can have.
The reason that I know this is that it is also my diagnosis, and I am now 7 years out, and am doing just fine.

Your odds of recurrence after treatment will be the lowest possible -- just about the same as the chances of a person who never had BC getting an occurrence.

Sadly, no one told me that -- also, because your tumor is very indolent (slow, lazy, etc! -- exactly the kind you want), take all the time you need to consider your treatment options. You may want to consider -- lumpectomy, and short course of radiation. You will get your final results of tumor type later, but it is very unlikely that it will be anything else other than ER/PR+ (goes with grade 1), which means you will be on hormone therapy for several years and will likely not need chemotherapy

Good luck, this is so the scariest time

HI!

The waiting is a true test of patience. I have a lot of anxiety too (3 children under 3) and was given a prescription for Xanax which helps a tiny bit and I was already taking Buspar, as I am prone to anxiety in the best circumstances. But I agree with the others that once you have a plan in place, some of that should ease up. I'm playing the waiting game too... waiting on BRCA results, waiting to schedule surgery, waiting to see if IDC is lurking (which I suspect, based on the MRI), waiting, waiting and more waiting.

I also agree about arming yourself with knowledge. I went to my surgeon with 30 questions and she laughed and said she needed to go back and review the medical journal articles to answer all of them. I have a second opinion scheduled next week. Keep asking questions and keep pushing for answers.

I think there is such a feeling for the need to get moving ASAP, but as my doctor stated, even grade 3 breast cancer is pretty slow moving and has likely been there for years before the diagnosis, so it's okay to take some time to breathe and get the best treatment plan in place that you can (easier said than done, I know).

Hang in there! Xo.

ER+ = estrogen receptor positive; PR+ = progesterone receptor positive. ER+ means that the cancer is fueled by estrogen and PR+ that it is fueled by progesterone. It changes the treatment options depending on the results and you should get a percentage for both in your follow up report to the pathology report. For example, I am 99% ER+ so my cancer is HIGHLY fueled by estrogen and decreasing the amount of estrogen in my body will be a primary goal over the long haul (Tamoxifen, changing my diet, no hormone replacement therapy ever, etc) to prevent a recurrence.

Also, I am sending my results to another pathologist who does nothing but review breast cancer slides. I don't expect anything to change, but I figured a second set of eyes couldn't hurt while I'm doing all this waiting.

Does anyone else obsessively check their phone? I have this fear that I will miss a call from my doctor or the genetic counselor or whomever. Especially when I'm in court (I will run out of my own hearing to take a call if I have to). All this waiting, I feel like I can't wait more than I absolutely have to.

Nash, that's so true. Which is what I think makes me so edgy about the whole thing. I think my doctor will call and nothing happens. And then I think it's a friend and, BAM, it's the hospital. My mom always said, "Patience is a virtue." Clearly that is a virtue I have little of.

MaggieMae, are you Her2 positive? Yes, then  chemo will likely be recommended.

If you are Her2 negative, then chemo is a  maybe, depending on things like node involvement or oncotype score.