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Topic: One year anniversary of Dx

Forum: Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts —

Meet and support others who are affected by these issues around anxiety, depression & other emotional effects.

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Posted on: Jun 30, 2021 02:07PM

pinger2474 wrote:

So tomorrow will be my one year anniversary of my Dx. My surgery was in late July, 3 weeks after my Dx. I had a left mastectomy with no reconstruction. I am currently on tamoxifen, 5 mg a day, a much smaller dosage than normal simply because I was not able to handle the side effects on the full dosage.

Overall, I feel like I am doing well. I went back to work part time 4 months after my surgery and I have my family to take care of so my days are generally full. But I still think about my cancer every day and there are times when I feel really sad and would have a good cry, something I never used to do much before all of this. I did see a therapist for a few months after my surgery but then I realized that I just needed time to process what I went through. Does this get better? Do any of you go through days without thinking about it? Because I am on a reduced dosage of tamoxifen, I also tend to find myself worrying about a possible recurrence or a new cancer. I've been trying to be more mindful and I do meditate. I know I'm OKnow, but I feel like I'm in a playback loop with all of this sometimes.

Another issue I have is that I still have quite a bit of sensitivity around my scar. It is slowly getting better over time but it feels like it's taking much longer than expected. When I search on the Internet about this it seems that generally six months is the recovery time. My scar looks like it has healed, but every day I still feel irritation with whatever clothing is touching it (I find any bra to be too much) and sometimes I still feel pins and needles. I'm sure it's probably just the nerves regrowing but just wondering if this is normal.

Thanks for any advice and info. I'm glad that this community exist because even though my friends and family are very supportive of me, it's been a year and everyone has pretty much moved on. It's hard to keep bringing up this topic.

Dx 7/1/2020, IDC: Mucinous, Left, 2cm, Stage IA, Grade 2, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- (IHC) Surgery 7/23/2020 Lymph node removal: Sentinel; Mastectomy Hormonal Therapy Tamoxifen pills (Nolvadex, Apo-Tamox, Tamofen, Tamone)
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Jun 30, 2021 02:39PM AliceBastable wrote:

Well, cancer has taken a whole year out of your life. Maybe it's time to fight back and reclaim your existence? If you have to, give it 5 or ten minutes a day at first, and if it tries to sneak into your mind outside that time, say "Nope, you're not on the schedule!" then do something else that takes your concentration. Gradually space those meetings to every other day, then twice a week, once a week, twice a month... you get the idea. Yeah, cancer sucks, but it doesn't have to suck out your mind and spirit.

Endometrial cancer 2010, basal cell multiples, breast cancer 2018, kidney cancer 2018. Boring. Hope it stays that way. Dx 5/2018, ILC, Left, 2cm, Stage IA, Grade 1, 1/1 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Surgery 7/10/2018 Lumpectomy: Left; Lymph node removal: Sentinel Surgery 8/7/2018 Radiation Therapy 10/28/2018 Whole-breast: Breast, Lymph nodes
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Jun 30, 2021 06:10PM 2019whatayear wrote:

It's been 2 years for me, no I don't go days w/o thinking about it. Everyone is different I had a BMX w/o reconstruction and I had sensitivity and pins and needles for over a year. Not anything terrible just a little noticable

5/6/2019 IDC 2cm, micromet 1/9 nodes, BRCA2+, ER+, PR+, HER- BMX 6/2019, A/C & Taxol 2019, Radiation, BSO - preventative 2/2020, Letrozole 3/1/2020, Started Lynparza for 1 year preventative on 7/18/2021

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