Just diagnosed/overwhelmed and sad.

So far, good prognostic factors. Medium growing, hormonal positive which means the anti-hormonal will be a part of your treatment plan. Hang in there! The first few months are the toughest as you journey through all the treatments plans, information and tests/doctor visits. Ask them for print outs too, so you can see the information for yourself and.or take a friend. You will feel like you are shell shocked and women react differently but remember, it is normal to feel frightened, overwhelmed, confused, tearful, angry, and did I mention scared. Wait until you get all the information back before planning a funeral (many of us have dome this). Walk. Talk. Hug. Not a journey to be taken alone. Be well, sweetie...we all know this trip and we all have you in our thoughts!!!!xoxoxox

mmshea, I'm so sorry you had to join this club, but there are many here to assist you and to lean on. If your place of treatment, clinic or hospital has a support group, I would recommend looking into. They are supportive and very knowledgeable. They can help, let them... Also, don't be afraid to ask and ask. This is your treatment, you have a say. I'm a couple years out, this forum helped so much.

Take care, deep breaths.

I know this is going to sound crazy but your report is good. Your staging is low and you will make it through just fine! If you need help with your emotions don't be afraid to ask your doctor for medications that can help with the sadness and worry. Take care of yourself, get a lot of rest and take one minute at a time. xxoo

I had the same diagnosis as you 12 yrs ago. The best advice I can give you is support groups and Susan Koman's book. It really helped me understand what I was going through. No one in my family had never had any type of cancer. You are in my prayers.

I started treatment on Dec 1 after finding a lump in September. Before I started treatment was without a doubt the most stressful part. Focus on what they are telling you and not what ifs. Everyone's journey is so different and treatments have come a long long way. My Grandmother had breast cancer and survived 30 years (died at 82 of diabetes). This was 65 years ago when she was diagnosed following pain in her arm.

I got diagnosed with DCIS 11 years ago. Was very confused....doctors give you options, I decided to do a double mastectomy....but it took me 3 months to make that decision. Read a lot about it and went on forums like this for support and feedback ALOT....it was what I looked forward to...as anyone who has not gone through this can not understand what it's like!!!!! Take your time and get a second opinion just to be sure....go into it with a lot of knowledge....it'll make you feel better!!

By all means do your research, but with an objective “filter.” What you read on BCO, Komen, ACS, Mayo, MSKCC, MDAnderson, Susan Love’s and Elisa Port’s books, and to a lesser degree WebMD and Livestrong is valid and reliable. Unfortunately, Dr. Google doesn’t differentiate between legitimate medical information sites and flat-out-flip-a-dee-doo-dah outliers, especially reader-driven sites and alternative-medicine sites. Even WhatsNext.com can have some suspect info, although it can be helpful for tips & tricks to get you through treatment (however, it’s for all cancers and doesn’t have a supervisory medically-staffed arm the way BCO does).

Based on my biopsy report (same as yours. though you didn’t specify initial tumor size estimate), location of tumor and its size relative to my breast, age and inclination to keep surgery as minimally-invasive and both surgical and recovery durations as short as possible, I opted for lumpectomy and radiation and am happy with my decision (though in retrospect, had I not needed to complete active treatment in time to take a cruise we’d booked months earlier, I might have opted for bilateral reduction to protect the integrity of my SNB incision and make it easier to buy clothing going forward. I might yet do that once everything has “settled in” a year or so from now). You can always go back later and have a mastectomy, but the reverse is not true. I knew that even mastectomy is no guarantee that radiation will be unnecessary, nor is it total protection of distant recurrence or contralateral new tumors.

Have a good long talk with your surgeon, ask to see surveys or videos if available (the Emmi series is great, and I was part of a Mayo trial of a decision-tree software algorithm). Discuss with him or her (and your medical oncologist when you pick one) and decide what your lifestyle, needs and goals are and how various treatments would impact timelines and aspects of them. Only you know what’s most important for you and how you want your life to proceed--given, of course, that life choices you used to have may now be unavailable--or must be postponed. Your medical team works for you, not vice versa.

hi have just found this forum, I was diagnosed with estrogen sensitive breast cancer 3 wks ago. I'm 29 and completely overwhelmed and sacred by the whole thing. I feel so healthy and fit, so can't get my head around it. I'm geting a mastectomy in a couple of weeks. I do not have any children and have been referred to the fertility specialists, there are so many things to think about, very daunting

Katp,

((( HUGS))) It will get better. The first few weeks are the most terrifying. Just focus on one day at a time. Like the Mods suggested, there is a forum for young women. You might find more advice and comfort there to help you through this journey. 

God Bless.

Thank you msphil, very comforting to hear that you have been through this and made it out the other side