Anxiety
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Bumping up this helpful discussion of anxiety
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Thanks Georgia!
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Is anyone else having anxiety about this stupid flu season? I'm starting to feel really anxious about this--partly because I work in healthcare so it's like a ticking time bomb. I did get a flu shot, but yikes it seems like a bad year. I am so afraid of taking the flu home to my young child.
:-(
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I'm concerned about it, since it's flying through my office. I did get the flu shot, and luckily I'm not dealing with cancer treatment. But I'll have an excisional biopsy in a couple of weeks, and I don't want to add the flu on top of that...or have to postpone the biopsy because I'm sick.
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Yes. My son who is 25 didn't get a flu shot and he won't get it. I worry because he works going to many different public locations like grocery stores. He is an IT technical support person so he deals we computer equipment and software installations, not alot of direct people contact. As if cancer isn't enough to worry about. Also because he is on the road alot I worry about accidents too. Ugh will the worry ever stop?
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So I know that this flu season is a bad one in many areas, and being concerned about that is reasonable. Please let the concern motivate you to do everything that you can to protect yourself. I got to the Emergency Department multiple times a day for my job, so I can't stay away from that setting (which is the #1 recommendation for avoiding the flu), but what you should also be doing is: staying hydrated, eating well, getting enough sleep and hand washing, hand washing hand washing. You could also do whatever type of natural immune system booster that you like to do (unless that is counter indicated for your stage in treatment). Don't let worry take over, use it to motivate you to do all that is reasonable to protect yourself!
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They are even recommending getting the shot if you have the flu. I can't talk any sense into my son, but he still ok.
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My daughter-in-law and one of my granddaughters got the flu despite having had flu shots. The CDC says the flu vaccine is only about 32 percent effective this year. My stubborn DIL didn’t get treatment and was sick for 10 days. My granddaughter got Tamiflu (?) and was sick for 2 days and, honestly, she had no symptoms after 1 day on the antiviral. I think getting the flu shot and then seeking treatment immediately if you get flu symptoms really lowers the risk of serious danger.
I understand your anxiety but, hopefully, it will come to nothing. I do think you don’t need the anxiety about your son — it’s not good for your own health. And that’s exactly what I would tell your son.
Best wishes,
bride
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MT hope you don't mind me making a post. The flu vaccine is determined by a group that meets in a European country(forget which) in Jan of each year. They review data from previous years and present data. They choose three viruses to target that year. Then the pharm companies develop the vaccine over the next months to be ready by Sept. They HOPE they have chosen wisely.
According to the last CDC MMWR that I read within the last week or so. This years vaccine is only 10 % effective. Earlier this year it showed a higher effectiveness rate, but that has decreased with time..
Even in a stellar year of choice of viruses, a 60% effectiveness is considered great.
This year missed the mark.
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I think they really do a great job considering---it's kind of like predicting the weather. No one can really see the future, they just do the best they can!!
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gb, I wasn't critizing to much. It's a monumental process. Your analogy is dead on. " like predicting the weather. No one can really see the future, they just do the best they can!!" We are great at a 7 day weather prediction. 7-10 months, duh...not. The point was just to describe the process and that it is a very thoughtful process with oodles of worldwide data. Then hope they have picked right. There are many folks that have already analyzed why the threshold wasn't met this year. They have already presented their findings with other findings to the group figuring this falls combo vaccine. Next Sept. vaccine is already being grown.
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Great post! Thank you! This makes a lot of sence and honestly makes me think differently about a lot of the things I encounter sometimes especially when it comes to my health.
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Sas, I stay pretty informed about the flu season as well. Some of the info I read prior to the onset of the season was a prediction that this would possibly be a bad flu season. One of the reasons is that the vaccine wouldn't convey as robust an immune response as other years for a couple of reasons. That is because one of the strains that was predicted to dominate the season, and was therefore incorporated into the vaccine is H3N2. It was also in last year's vaccine. When a strain is incorporated into a vaccine 2 years in a row typically means that a person getting the vaccine will not have the same robust immune response. Another reason is the strain H3N2 is a bad one, and the immune response conveyed for H3N2 is typically not as high as it is for other strains. All in all, avoid places where many sick people are, frequent handwashing, staying hydrated, and staying well rested.
Stay well everyone!
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So...the every 6 month "scan anxiety." After a clear mammogram in October, I get an MRI tomorrow. Might have to wait a couple of weeks for results. I don't know if they'll call me or I'll get them at my surgeon followup appointment in April. I guess if they find something maybe they won't make me wait. Not sure.
Does this start to get easier? I'm worried about the MRI because it's so specific, I feel like if there's the hint of anything they will biopsy. I understand that. But I don't want to have to deal with anything. And my last MRI biopsy was a nightmare. And now I have truncal lymphedema, so digging into that breast just sounds like a really sucky thing....sigh.
I know you all understand.
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Gb2115...oh hell yeah, it sucks to no end. I get flashbacks at mammogram time. Just went through my first call back Monday....just a joy! Worried sick for 3 weeks, like you, wanting to know RIGHT NOW, and then a second later wanting to pack a bag and go hide in Tasmania! Does it get easier? I sure hope so! I've convinced myself that I will handle another call back with demure quiet maturity....LMAO!! I'll be perusing travel flyers at the screening mammo. Hoping your MRI goes well and results come quickly. Let us know how you do
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I won't pretend that scanxiety doesn't happen to me. But I have found that it carries less of a punch and doesn't last as long as the years go by. I'm 15 years NED and coming up on my next annual scans
Inviting us all to breathe through it and keep supporting each other!! 
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when I first found the indent on my breast on january 30 my anxiety was a little high for a week. But after a clear ultrasound and constantly shining a flashlight on my boob I was OK, joyful even. Still a little concerned but totally ok.
Now its March and I would say that for the last week and a half I have been feeling sleepy all day. I sleep 6-9 hours on average, although I fall asleep like at 3 or 4 am. Sometimes I will sleep at 11 but still feel sleepy all day.
I don't feel anxious, maybe I am subconsciously because I will be getting an MRI soon and am scared of what may come up.
Ugh I hate this because then my mind starts wandering about why I feel so sleepy all the.
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I’m heading in for an MRI tomorrow, and my mind doesn’t stop. I’m over analyzing every ache and pain in my breast and body, wondering if it could be tied to something. I don’t have any palpable lump but one breast grew larger than the other back in December and hasn’t gone back to normal yet. I had a clean mamo but pushed for an MRI since I’m 34 and have denser tissue. My mind always goes to the worst place. I swear, regardless of what happens I’m looking into anxiety meds. Tired of being this high strung. Doesn’t help that two friends and my step mother have been diagnosed with cancer this past year, which threw me into this whole spiral of anxiety. Glad to know I am not the only one
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For me it's the waiting...the phone could ring at any time, with good or bad news...that drives me nuts!!!
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sending good vibes! Waiting is so difficult! I’m going to offer the radiologist my first born if they will read the MRI results right after they scan me!😂😂😂
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I got a call that it was normal, I am so relieved! Off the hook until my mammogram in the fall! Whew!
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So happy for you! I love good news! Hope you’re celebrating
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One of the things that's helping me right now is to remind myself that I am in control. The doctors can provide me with tests results, diagnosis, treatment options, and expected outcomes. BUT, in the end, I am the one who will decide what treatments I receive, what tests and procedures I consent to, and where I get my medical care.
For example, it may be that my doctors eventually advise me to have chemotherapy. In that case, I most probably would decide to have the chemo. But, it would be my choice to do that--after all, no one is going to physically force me into an oncology center for chemo!
Also, a friend of mine who is a breast cancer survivor decided to travel to another state for her treatment. She felt the cancer center there was one of the best in the world, so getting treatment there gave her extra confidence. Choosing where she got her care made her feel more in control and I think that helps a lot when you're facing such a scary disease.
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I received my ultrasound report last night after 10 pm through the hospital system's online chart. It says benign recommend 1 year screening mammography. Yay!! I am living proof that good results do happen.
One thing that helped me was to calculate my risk of having advanced cancer, because early stage disease is so very curable. According to the website, Moose & Doc Breast Cancer, there was a 17% risk of my ultrasound being cancer. Even if I had fallen into that 17% with cancer, there was a 65% chance it would be at stage 0 or 1, which have a survival rate close to 100%. So, after a little math, I figured there was a 94% chance I either had no cancer or a very early stage cancer. That reassuring stat reminded me that catching it early is why we go through the annual mammograms and the dreaded call-backs and ultrasounds, etc. It really is worth the anxiety if we can catch cancer while it is almost 100% curable.
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SmallTownGA. Praise the Lord for good news! I love your line "Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid."
I get my biopsy report tomorrow. Regardless of the outcome, it is only my body not my soul.
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SafetyGuy, I hope your report brought good news. Regardless of the words on a biopsy report, remember that you are still you. Do not despair but trust in God.
The line "Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid." is from the refrain of The First Song of Isiah, Canticle 9. We sing the whole song in church most Sundays of the year. I find the four lines of the refrain give me great comfort in times of trouble. I frequently use the whole refrain for meditation as well. Here is the entire refrain: "Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. He is my stronghold and my sure defense, and He will be my savior."
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You're on to something when you mention "uncertain outcomes" vs. a sense of control. Uncertainty drives me batty, in all aspects of life: will I be able to park when I get there; will the roads or sidewalks be icy; will I have drawn enough of a crowd for the venue to book me again; will I get a tax refund or have to pay extra this year, and if so how much; will I have enough time between scenes in the show to change costumes and get miked; will the pipes freeze; will my car start; do I have enough gas to get to the next filling station on this country road; yada yada yada...
Proof of that is how I felt when I got that first dicey mammo result "BIRADS 0;" then when the radiologist suggested a biopsy; then in the 10 days I was on the road and the thought "it might be cancer; what if it's cancer; am I going to die; OMG, it's BIRADS 4B, I'm sure it's cancer; what if it's triple-neg or Stage IV?" kept running in my head in an endless loop, like a drunken yet manic rabbit caroming off the walls of the rabbit hole, wrecking any enjoyment I had in the off-hours from my continuing legal ed course and coffeehouse gigs. Oh, sure, that fateful phone call the day after my biopsy with the words "invasive ductal carcinoma, grade 2, hormone-positive" was initially a punch to the solar plexus--but after I hung up, I felt strangely relieved: I knew what I was facing and I was in control of what I would do next. Fear gave way to determination to learn all I could and be confident in the choices to be made. Of course, there was still uncertainty about margins, lymph nodes and whether I'd need chemo; but when the path report and Oncotype score came back, I could see the "paving stones of the road ahead" fall into place and my apprehension fell away like the air in a leaking balloon.
As to valerian root, I'm still not sure if it's okay. MtWoman, you're triple-neg, so it's safe for you and many other women on this thread. I'm Luminal A, on letrozole. I have a scrip for Xanax (1/4-1/2mg for sleep), but I no longer wish to take it. Wine, even in the tiny amount (1-2 oz) that comes out of my Coravin, seems to wake me up during the night. CBD oil helps somewhat, especially when supplemented by 1/8 of a 25mg. indica THC gummy (finally got my MMJ card); but it would be really nice to be able go back to the valerian that always helped me pre-bc when I would awaken in the night & not fall back asleep. (The alternative is Lyrica, which I got after weird neuropathy after my first Zometa infusion--but it makes me oversleep and then be loopy half the day; I take one maybe every 2-3 weeks, and have no idea how people function taking it 2-3x a day as the label directs). Both valerian and Lyrica drop me like a plugged buffalo, but the valerian's nearly instantaneous whereas Lyrica does nothing for 2 hrs and then hits me like a ton of bricks. MSK's site doesn't say valerian's contradicted for ER+ patients, whether on an AI or tamoxifen; but I hear anecdotal reports that people's MOs advise against it, though with no reliable specific scholarly citations either way.
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I've struggled with anxiety pretty much my whole life but the last few years have been awful. Ever since I found out I'm infertile I feel like doctor's will have only bad news and not good. I fell apart last year after my first screening mammogram when they found my scar tissue (after a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound and mri). 2 different radiologists looked at the mri and both said it was scar tissue. My family dr felt it afterwards as well and said it didn't feel concerning. I didn't get called back after my 6 month check up but have gotten called back for another ultrasound after my year followup. My family dr said its for the same spot so I shouldn't be concerned as I had the all clear last year but I keep going over worst case scenarios - that my family dr isn't telling me the whole truth or is flat out lying to me because she knows how I panic, that it's gotten bigger, that they were wrong last year, etc. It goes on. I know from the counselling I've been to that this is totally my anxiety at play. That most likely they are just being diligent at keeping an eye on this lump of dead tissue in my breast.
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You might ask for a biopsy to be sure if it concerns you. That should be a reasonable request.
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Ch Sandy: Don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but 20 mg of Melatonin puts me out like a charm at night and it also has anti-cancer benefits. My integrative cancer doc told me to do it. You have to start at lower dose and work up to 20 mg.
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