Newly diagnosed

disneyfan2008 said:

so sorry you had to find this site
But happy you did...I Did not look any place...i found this about 2 1/2 yrs (this week is 3 yrs for me) after the fact...GOOD you thought to research and find a place for info from experince...

frychrissy said:

just diagnosed

I'm a 37 year old female with 3 kids. I had 2 biopies last week. I just found out yesterday that I have breast cancer. I see my surgeon tomorrow. Not sure what to expect. I know that have to see if it has spread or not but that's about all I know at this point. Anyone help me so I know what my next steps are. Don't really care for the surgeon that did the biopsy so not sure what to do

Hi Chrissy, you'll probably get more responses if you start your own new thread, this thread was started back in 2009.

Anyway, so sorry. I went through my biopsy and diagnosis in 2014, and I remember all the confusing feelings, some things happening so fast and others taking forever.

Be careful about researching online, there's a lot of bad information out there. This site is good,

Another suggestion I'd have is to ask your Dr if it's OK that you record your appointments with your smart phone/iPod. They cover so much info it's hard to take it all in, and even having a second person with you isn't always the answer. Lew wasn't very good at taking notes. It was several months between my first visit with the radiologist and when I finally started radiation, and it was so helpful to go back and relisten to that first session.

It can be overwhelming to look at the whole picture, focus on learning about what you'll be doing next, don't look further down the road or you'll drive yourself nuts with all the "what if's".

Get copies of your pathology reports, you have a right to them.

Start a journal, to keep track of what Dr said, how you're feeling, what procedures you have done when. Write down your questions for the doctors and if you don't understand their answers make them explain it better. When you meet with your surgeon find out what his/her initial idea of stage and grade is, though you won't have a final stage and grade until after your surgery. Surgeon will explain the difference between having a lumpectomy vs a mastectomy. You'll want to ask if your tumor was estrogen positive and hers positive as that will affect your treatment options.

If you haven't been to the chat room on this site, check it out, that's where you can talk in real time to people, many of the gals in the chat room  have had breast cancer and can be a terrific support. The room is busiest in the evening.

Let us know what you learn.