BREAST CANCER

I JUST FOUND OUT THAT I HAVE STAGE 2 GRADE 3 BREAST CANCER. I HAVE WENT THROUGH A BIOPSY AND THAN A WEEK LATER HAD ANOTHER SURGERY TO TAKE SOME MORE OF MY BREAST TISSUSE AND 13 LYMPTH NODES WHICH 4 WAS CANCEROUS. I AM WAITING TO DO THE TREATMENTS. I AM TRYING TO KEEP MY SELF BUSY AND YET HEALING UP FROM THE SURGERIES. WHAT DID ANYONE DID WHEN THEY FIRST FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE DIANOISED WITH CANCER. I JUST WANT TO BE A COUNCH POTATOE AND PIG OUT ON CHOCOLATE BUT THEN I DON'T AND WANT TO STAY BUSY.

Replies

  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    Check the groups to see if there's one for breast cancer.
    (And check your caps lock key.) :grinning:

    Going from a common-sense approach, try to eat nutritious foods, because they'll support your healing, as well as giving your body every chance of fighting the cancer.
    At the same time, be nice to yourself. If you want a piece of chocolate, have a piece of chocolate.
    And you might want to go a little easy on exercise, again to let your body use the energy for healing. Going for a nice walk in the park would be good for body & soul.
  • Laura732
    Laura732 Posts: 244 Member
    Wow. I can tell you must be scared. Like MKEgal said, find a breast cancer support group. You're gonna need people around you. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
    edited October 2014
    I know many cancer survivors who used this challenge to be inspired to finally live healthy and get fit. They're all living productive lives today and credit their cancer as an actual source of strength.
    Good Luck!
  • AmandaHugginkiss
    AmandaHugginkiss Posts: 486 Member
    Take a deep breath. The next month is going to be hard, but you need to heal from the surgery. Then you need to focus on the medical and clinical. Detach yourself from your disease. Determine what you think about reconstruction, what type, and when. Are you planning a mastectomy with implants? TRAM flap? DIEP? What does the doctor say about radiation? Are you triple negative or Her2 or ErPr positive? Chemotherapy is brutal, but you will make it through it. Think about your illness, but don't worry about the weight loss. Not right now.

    When I was diagnosed, I vanished. I checked into a hotel, didn't tell my husband where I was, called an attorney and dictated my will, drank a fifth of vodka, got sick, screamed, cried and lost it completely. Then I regained my composure and fought it. I healed.

    You can recover from this. Just take it a day at a time.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
    Listen to Amanda up there and realize that this is a fight you can win. It won't be pretty and you're in for a battle, but you can win. Life on the other side of that fight is going to be all the more sweet. Find friends who have been through it and cling to them.
  • pirate_john_75
    pirate_john_75 Posts: 96 Member
    Well, the good news is that breast cancer has one of the highest survival rates. The bad news is that the next few months will be difficult. I lost my wife recently to gastric cancer so I know how stressful this can be.
  • porterbaby38
    porterbaby38 Posts: 1,401
    thanks everyone.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    When I was dx'd, I continued to do as many normal things as possible. Coach baseball was one of the things that kept me going in between the surgeries, chemo, and radiation. Hanging with my mom and my kids was also very beneficial to my soul. My main advice is when you get tired, then rest. If your body is tired, your mind will follow suit. I healthy mind is most important IMHO to get back to a life that isn't filled with dr's appointments and such.

    Remember days turn into months, months into years. One day you will look back and be amazed at the strength that it took til battle.

    Feel free to PM me if you need to talk.

    Good luck.
  • Praying for your speedy recovery. I think that MKgirl nailed it, the only thing I would add to what she suggested is to surround yourself with positive people who make you laugh and smile. It helps.
  • jmsukow
    jmsukow Posts: 1 Member
    My husband found my breast cancer on 11/2/13 and on 10/24/14 (9 days shy of 1 year), I finished all my treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation). I thought when this all started I would never see this side of the year, but here I am.

    I too agree with MKEgirl and Chieflrg and Amanda....Try and eat healthy but don't deprive yourself. You're already going through a lot. Take one day at a time, breath but let yourself feel. And surrounding yourself with positive people are a must. I would also like to add that if you need help, ask. People want to help but a lot of time, they don't know how.

    I too would like to ask you to PM me if you'd like to talk

    We are all survivors - including you!
  • jaena4
    jaena4 Posts: 175 Member
    When I was diagnosed in July, the nurse navigator said that breastcancer.org has solid, reliable information you can trust and an extensive set of discussion boards. I never added much to the discussions, but it was very good to have a place to get good info and where I could've asked questions.

    Don't google cancer - there is a ton of crazy *kitten* out there. Talk to your doctors and nurses but do not just start wandering around the web. I bought myself a ton of silly, lighthearted books (and a booklight so when I woke up in the middle of the night worrying, I could read, distract myself, and not wake up the husband) and I watched a lot of stupid but diverting TV. Keep yourself busy and know that this will suck, but you will be ok.

    PM me if you need to talk. I had DCIS (stage 0) but I nevertheless had to have a single mastectomy. I opted to not get reconstruction. The mastectomy honest to god was not that bad. Not fun, for sure, but it was totally doable.
  • myheartsabattleground
    myheartsabattleground Posts: 2,040 Member
    Why are you yelling ?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    My mother had the same as you. It had spread to some of her lymph nodes. She is totally fine more than 25 years later so think positive. Positivity will help a lot. Meditate if you can or do other peaceful things.