Topic: My head is spinning!

susieq....karenmary is right....you need to take it a step at a time and, before long, it will all become much more manageable. I promise! Your first step is to get all of the facts about your cancer and the options for addressing it. You'll need to make some choices here & there, based upon the specific characteristics of your tumors AND what your heart & gut tell you to do. And then you just do it....one step first and then, later, the next, then the next, until you finish treatment and hear your doctor tell you it's all gone. And that day will come...it really will! So hang in there, girl, and stick with us here. We hold one another's hands and help to get each other through. I don't think I'd have made it without these women.

Oh, and btw, I'm pretty sure its not a "pump" for your chemo but, rather, a port which is a small, quarter or half-dollar-sized piece that is implanted close to the skin in your chest and through which the chemo goes, making it incredibly easier and less toxic. When you're done with chemo, they simply take it out. So please don't worry about getting a port. I'll tell you that I became so attached to mine that I named it ("Portia") and even waited nearly a year before letting them remove it. But I'm sort of starnge.....

You're gonna be completely fine, susieq.

~Marin

Susie...Some women find it necessary to ask for a sedative to get through these initial days, so you might want to consider that. Alternatively, practicing some calming behaviors like yoga or guided meditation (I use CDs) and drinking chamomile tea can help too.

~Marin

Thanks for the calming ideas. I found out that I'm having chemo first and then the lumpectomy so I'm really one of the lucky ones.

I'm having the port put in, lymph nodes removed and the marker clips inserted on June 4th and then the chemo begins. That scares me, but since everyone seems to handle it differently, I will just wait and see.

Thanks so much for your support. It really means so much.

SusieQ