Newly Diagnosed 39 yo; grade 3 IDC

Hi cpusen- sorry you’re here. It is overwhelming and frightening for sure. This is a great place to share. You have just boarded the coaster and your emotions will be all over the place, which is normal and ok.

Take a breathe and get all the information you can. I found taking someone else to appointments is a good idea - stress can make you zone out. A second opinion is never a bad idea. The pathology that you shared makes me think that Chemotherapy would be on the table, but I’m no doctor. I found looking at the NCCN website for breast cancer helped- it has information on treatment options per pathology .

Best of luck to you and stay active here - it can really help..

Hi Foreverfaith, One of the hardest things I've done was telling my son (17 at the time). I'm a single parent and since he was 7 years old we have been a team (exhusband is no help). I think you're doing the right thing by waiting to see the Onc. She's bound to have a myriad of questions so you're wise in getting all the info you can before approaching her. My son had a ton of questions and took it like a trooper for a day or two. Then the fallout happened. He was understandably shook up, scared and tearful. I told my son that we were going to get through this and that I would be fighting it with the strength of a lion. I told him that while I couldn't make any promises, that I would take all the treatment thrown my way and that I would make the transition into treatment doing my best to make sure his day to day wouldn't be affected if I could help it. Today my boy is 21 and so supportive. He often tells me 'if I was cancer I'd be scared of you too" lol. Little smartass. Its not going to be easy for you telling her and the only advice I can give is to present it to her in a comforting way, answer her questions with gentle honestly and ensure her you're going to fight like a lion.

I'm so sorry you're in this position today. It is mind bending, especially at the beginning. Reach out on the boards often when it gets overwhelming. We're all here for you! Hugs!

Like you (and everyone else for that matter), I never thought I'd be here. We shared similar weeks last week. Biopsy on Wednesday and was told to expect a positive report. I'm so glad you could get in to see the onco sooner than you thought. If you're like me, I'm eager to get a treatment plan, get this nasty bugger out of me, and start the healing process.

foreverfaith, actually grade 3 you may have better results from chemo. Chemo kills those fast growing cells.

Good luck to you.

One more positive, if you can think of it that way: higher grades seem to be able to respond better to chemo, like it makes itself more apparent, and chemo can seek and destroy because it's more visible, kind of.

I had to hang onto little things while I was getting treatment. My oncology nurse told me that in her experience (when my white count was so low they nearly didn't give me infusion that week) that people who have side effects from chemo seem to do better in the long run. She had no science to back that claim up but it was a breath of hope to me, and I hung onto it when I was feeling scared and miserable.

Hugs

Claire in AZ

Whether you can work is different for everyone, but hopefully your employer will be patient and understanding.

I had to take time off during chemo because I got sick for a long time after each infusion. I was able to work throughout radiation and felt almost normal, but just a little more tired and uncomfortable.

Everyone is so unique in how they respond to treatment. I hope you sail through everything!

I was diagnosed last year at 37, stage 3. It’s very scary, but I think once you start the treatment process and have time to get used to it, things get a bit better. I am still struck by how much changed in such a short amount of time, how the last seven months have been all about cancer and treating it. I wondered if that ever goes away