Recurrence-Would you share your emotioal journey with us????

Honey, there is a special thread for recurrence and metastasis.  Just scroll down a little farther.

The gals there are just great and it is a font of good information on how to handle the challenges of this nasty beast coming back.

Hugs, Shirlann

Sadie, I received two separate diagnoses of BC within two years of each other. Both triple neg, but the second one was definitely not related to my first one. (First was medullary, second was IDC)

Like everyone else who has BC, I was really afraid of it coming back. In fact, I still am. But when I actually got the news, I know it didn't hit me as hard as it did the first time.

I went through a second mastectomy and a second bunch of chemo, and it just all seemed easier to me the second time around. I think it helped that I knew more about what was going on and what was going to happen.

It still sucked, don't get me wrong!  But it was not nearly as bad for me the second time. I think my attitude was: "If I did it once, I can do it again." In some ways, dreading the possibility of more cancer is worse than actually fighting it again.

You know those people who tell you how brave you are and that they're sure they couldn't possibly go through surgery, chemo, whatever? And you try to tell them you're not really brave, it's just something you have to do. And that you're sure they'd do the same if faced with the same situation?

It's exactly the same with a second diagnosis. I was upset and angry, but I felt no hesitation. It was like, "Well, this next six months is going to SUCK! @#$%&amp;" <grin> But this time, I knew more about everything, which seemed to help me focus more on getting to the finish line.

Don't know if this helps any to ease your mind. I hope you never have to go through it again. But if you do, you'll get through it just fine.

--CindyMN