Diagnosed at 25

bebe1976
bebe1976 Member Posts: 60
edited March 2014 in Emotional Support #1
Hi, my name is jennifer and I am a 25 yr old legislative advisor for the PR Senate and part-time law student for whom the thought of having breast cancer was a distant one despite a very strong family history. I was diagnosed on July 24th and am having a partial mastectomy on August 5th and radiation to treat a ductal carcinoma in situ stage 0, grade 3. Any suggestions on how to cope with treatment and with all of the effects of this illness?

Comments

  • justwhatiwanted
    justwhatiwanted Member Posts: 12
    #2
    Hi Jennifer,
    I don't have any suggestions, but am in a similar position. I was diagnosed on June 10 at the age of 25, and have since had my 26th birthday. I have a rare type of skin cancer called a Merkel Cell carcinoma which was found in a lymph node in my neck with an unknown primary. I recently had surgery to the neck, and will be starting radiation treatments next week, followed by chemotherapy. Becuase of my age, I have been having a difficult time with the diagnosis... I am not sure how to deal with topics such as dating (I am single), school (I am an undergrad chemical engineering student), scars from the surgery, possible infertility from chemo (no kids yet), etc. Anyway, if you would ever like to talk, I would love to chat with you. I know that we have different types of cancer, but it seems that most of my emotional problems are not in dealing with the illness itself but with it happening at such a young and vital age. You can reach me at justwhatiwanted@hotmail.com if you like.

    I hope that your surgery went well today and good luck with the treatments that may follow.

    Heather
  • bebe1976
    bebe1976 Member Posts: 60
    #3
    justwhatiwanted said:

    Hi Jennifer,
    I don't have any suggestions, but am in a similar position. I was diagnosed on June 10 at the age of 25, and have since had my 26th birthday. I have a rare type of skin cancer called a Merkel Cell carcinoma which was found in a lymph node in my neck with an unknown primary. I recently had surgery to the neck, and will be starting radiation treatments next week, followed by chemotherapy. Becuase of my age, I have been having a difficult time with the diagnosis... I am not sure how to deal with topics such as dating (I am single), school (I am an undergrad chemical engineering student), scars from the surgery, possible infertility from chemo (no kids yet), etc. Anyway, if you would ever like to talk, I would love to chat with you. I know that we have different types of cancer, but it seems that most of my emotional problems are not in dealing with the illness itself but with it happening at such a young and vital age. You can reach me at justwhatiwanted@hotmail.com if you like.

    I hope that your surgery went well today and good luck with the treatments that may follow.

    Heather

    Hi Heather, I would love to chat, you can reach me at Jennifer_aponte@hotmail.com and on MSN Messenger under this ID. I have a lot of the same concerns and more so with datin since having my partial mastectomy yesterday. Everything's ok untill now but I will be getting my pathology report on Friday and am scared to death because if it has spread or my margins are the least bit suspicious I will have to have a double mastectomy and chemo aside from the radiation that I'm already going to have. My prayers are with and I'm glad to know we're in this together.
    Hugs,
    Jennifer
  • Jaxx77
    Jaxx77 Member Posts: 2
    #4
    justwhatiwanted said:

    Hi Jennifer,
    I don't have any suggestions, but am in a similar position. I was diagnosed on June 10 at the age of 25, and have since had my 26th birthday. I have a rare type of skin cancer called a Merkel Cell carcinoma which was found in a lymph node in my neck with an unknown primary. I recently had surgery to the neck, and will be starting radiation treatments next week, followed by chemotherapy. Becuase of my age, I have been having a difficult time with the diagnosis... I am not sure how to deal with topics such as dating (I am single), school (I am an undergrad chemical engineering student), scars from the surgery, possible infertility from chemo (no kids yet), etc. Anyway, if you would ever like to talk, I would love to chat with you. I know that we have different types of cancer, but it seems that most of my emotional problems are not in dealing with the illness itself but with it happening at such a young and vital age. You can reach me at justwhatiwanted@hotmail.com if you like.

    I hope that your surgery went well today and good luck with the treatments that may follow.

    Heather

    Merkel cell

    Heather,

    I know your post is old but I wanted to see if your email is still the same? I was recently diagnosed with Merkel cell and I am 29. 

     

    Jackie 

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