Just diagnosed, waiting for surgeon appt
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two weeks ago I got the pathology, IDC grade 2. Hormone receptive her2 negative. I have I had to wait almost three weeks before I could get a surgeon appointment due to my insurance. I am going to the University Maryland Medical Center breast center. The contract with my insurance doesn't go live until June 10th and I now have an appointment for June 11th with one of their breasts surgeons.
Needless to say I'm scared to death, I have family around me but nobody will talk about it with me. It just seems like they feel it's going to be a quick and easy fix. I've been through cancer with my own mother who passed away at 59, I am 47. My mother's cancer started in her colon. I've never dealt with breast cancer and the fear.... it's undescribable. Guess What Hurts the Most is everybody's making it like it's going to be no big deal.
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Itsmemj71, welcome! You are right where I was a year ago... I had a diagnosis, but had no idea what to expect or what would happen. Once I had my initial meeting with the surgeon, I felt better. As far as your friends and family go, could they be downplaying your diagnosis, trying to be calm for you? Just a thought.... You might ask your surgeon or oncologist if they know of a support group in your area. You are not alone! I have “met" some lovely, kind, supportive women here. I'm keeping you in my thoughts. Check back and let us know how things go.
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thank you very much. Actually I'm the one that's down playing it for my family. My kids have been through enough cancer so I've been downplaying my own. So partially this is my fault and I know that I just wish I had somebody to talk to. I'm not a support group type of person.
I know that in order for people to talk to me about it I have to talk with them. And I have tried to talk with my children even though I'm down playing it, they just don't want to talk about it. One of my girls is in denial and the other one she understands but she just doesn't want to talk about it and I understand both of their reactions because I've been in their shoes. I just don't know how to be the patient this time, I have always been the caregiver in the situation. My oldest is away at college and knows but isn't here for the day to day, even his calls to me of slowed down. I guess everybody processes in their own way and I don't know how to process this for myself.
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Itsmemj71 yes it sucks, take a breathe. Like you I was 47 when I was diagnosed, my mom died at 55 of breast cancer. When I got the word one of my friends asked if I was just waiting for this shoe to drop. My husband and I decided to hold off telling a lot of people right away, we wanted to know what we were dealing with. In fact I didn't call and tell my brothers until I knew what the full plan was, because I knew with what we went through with my mom that they would go do the worst case scenario. It is important to find someone to chat with even if it is just so you can vent. It is important to find someone to chat with, even if you just need to vent. For me it was my old roommate who was there while I went through the years of my mother's battle.
The first few weeks/month when you are trying wrap your head around everything is tough, I couldn't sleep which was then causing anxiety. As GreenHouse said it is okay to get something to help you with that. For me if I could sleep then my days were okay, so Ambien it was. The best advice I can give you is educate yourself. There is a good chance your cancer has been there a while so there is time to do some research, get an opinion and maybe a second opinion and make a decision that is good for you.
This site has posting for every diagnosis and the everyone is willing to share their experiences. We are hear for you.
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It sounds like you went through this with your mother, although you were a bit older than your kids were. I was college age when my mother was diagnosed. It can be very hard. At that age, your kids are still figuring out how to see you as a human being and not as an all-powerful force of nature. I think they are probably not a great source of support for you for this, no matter how close you are with them for other things. They still need you to be mom.
Do you have friends closer to your own age that could be a support for you? (You didn't mention a spouse, so I'm assuming you'e single and/or he or she is not a good source of emotional support for whatever reason.) If not, it really might be worth trying a support group even if you don't think of yourself as a support group person. This is hard to go through alone. If you're involved with some kind of hobby, even with people you don't think of as good friends, but that might be a good place to open up. I bet you'll be surprised by how many people have been in similar situations and will be much better at being there to listen than you might expect.
And of course, these boards are great resource and source of support.
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thank you very much for the kind words. All of my children are adults. I have a 28 year old, a 24 year old and a 22 year old. I do have many friend my age but none that live in this area. Last 18 years of my life I've spent living with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus which is no longer around. So my whole family spread around the world now. I have people that I can talk to over the telephone. It's never been a problem. I would like to be able to speak with my adult children about things that are going to be happening soon. They need to know certain things just in case, I'm that person. I'm just in case person. Always have been. I am single, I have a terrific ex-husband that is here to support me 500%. But there's things of course that he can't understand, he can have empathy but he can't ever fully understand it. I have a good friend of mine from Ringling that is actually going through breast cancer now and she's been a great source of information and comfort for me as I have been for her. She's having a really bad time of it now so I don't want to put more on her than she needs so of course I don't tell her everything that runs through my brain
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i dont know nothing about this ugly disease. But i will be more than happy to chat when you need to..my mom was just diagnosed friday with stage 4 breast cancer
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