Recently diagnosed and afraid

Kdettwiller,

It's always a shock when your stage changes, but know that you can get through all this. Is your chemo neo adjuvant or have you had surgery, yet? If you know the make-up of your bc, it helps to post it in your signature.

I did not expect more than one or two positive lymph nodes, but ended up with four. Needless to say I was very concerned with my prognosis. But here it is coming on eight years now.

Stay strong.

Me too! Ultrasound showed a tic-tac size lump and we all thought it would be a quick lumpectomy, a couple of weeks of rads, and adios. It was horrifying to wake up after the lumpectomy to discover I had so many nodes involved, and then to find there were tumor emboli in the lymphatic vessels of the breast skin.

Like Tectonic, I was diagnosed in 2011. It's amazing to me how many scientific advances have been made just in the four years since my doctor said, "it's cancer." And I'm still here, well and thriving. Playing with grandbabies born after breast cancer. Working full time. Riding my bike.

This is an enormous speed bump. It is an opportunity to discover yourself--strengths and challenges. I found depths of courage I never knew I had, and oceans of grief I needed to pour out. You will get through this. You will.

I also had multiple checks to my lymph nodes before surgery as I felt there were problems, but everything came back negative. My sentinel node was graded as negative in surgery, only to find out it was positive 3 weeks later and have 22 removed and found 3 more.

So now there is 4. I had a straight to implant surgery with excellent results, and the decision to do so was based on negative nodes. I can have radiation and risk ruining my right breast, and standard chemo doesn't work well on Lobular cancer. It takes a reoccurance to get more effective meds. So I'm staying on Femara and keeping my immune system as strong as I can

Hi..I'm new to this thread. .as of today I went from a clinical stage IIa after lumpectomy to remove a 2.5cm tumor(10/13/15) to IIIa after BMX (1/20/16) discovered 5.4cm tumor and 1 node. oh and her2+. I've got a 5yro and 8yro...and I'm freaking out! I will say..you ladies are getting me through the day..thank you!! Since getting the orginal dx 10/16..I have shed about a mins worth of tears. .and now I'm barely keeping it together after today's call. I'm pretty strong but am finding hard to find my strength just now. Anyway..thank you all for your strength and positive stories ...you've really helped me today. Tomorrow is a new day!

Cry when you need to, but pick yourself up, brush yourself off, take a few steps forward and repeat as often as necessary.

One of the scariest times is prior to having a treatment plan in place.

My BS thought we caught this early, my signature area shows the full DX. I have been considered NED since my first surgery.

Fowlertee, HER2+ used to be a really crappy DX. The addition of Herceptin and Perjeta to treatment protocols, has really improved our outcomes. If you are triple positive, there is a great thread for that. The ladies are informative and supportive.

Triple positive thread - click here

It is a scary time. When you first hear your stage, your mind goes into that deep dark area. It happens to all of us. Staging is for treatment purposes and with Stage 3 you will get the kitchen sink thrown at you. I had 14 positive nodes and I am still here seven years later. Don't get too hung up on the stage...you are going to get all of the excellent treatment that is out there now that wasn't available for me 7 years ago.