u/Odd_Confidence_5525

ever since i found out my diagnosis, the thought of having to do surgery has been scaring me so much. i’ve been reading up on everything that has to do with breast cancer, my diagnosis, and my treatment plan - everything except things that concern surgery. sometimes, even just seeing the word or thinking about it makes me grimace. i’ve found myself already internally preparing for chemo and immunotherapy. but i don’t know how i could ever feel prepared for surgery.

i still have a lot of time before i finally do surgery since i’m TNBC but it doesn’t lessen how scared i am about it still. i mean at least its done while i’m sedated, but i can just imagine all the body dysmorphia that i’m going to feel :( this sucks. cancer sucks.

it scares me a lot because my breasts are one of the only few parts of my body that i actually like. one of the few parts that make me feel attractive and womanly. and it hurts to think about how i’ll lose it eventually. i want to be optimistic and think that i might feel better after reconstruction but i don’t think it would ever be the same. this sucks.

cancer is so traumatizing. and it sucks that we have to go through this. the trauma is so profound and so deep. i keep remembering how i was crying before my biopsy procedure and how i kept needing to take deep breaths to calm myself down. i was the same for my mammogram as well. i’m sure i’ll have many moments like that in the future too.

it hurts. it’s so heavy. i hate that my thoughts are so consumed by the fact that i have cancer. i hate how much it’s affecting my life. i hate how much i have to spend just to find a way to live longer - that i have to do so much damage to my body in order for me to be “fixed” or healed :(

Hi. I’m 26, TNBC, Stage 2A. I’ve been asked by my MO to see a fertility doctor first to discuss egg freezing before I can start treatment but I’m wondering if it’s really worth the money to freeze my eggs?

It’s quite costly to freeze eggs in my country and I just feel like it’s not even worth it because it’s not even a sure guarantee that those eggs you freeze will get you to conceive. I also saw that for younger women like me that are diagnosed with BC, we have a higher chance of regaining our periods back after chemo and a higher chance of conceiving naturally after chemo as well compared to older patients. And I know it’s the same with egg freezing, that the younger you are, the higher the chance that those frozen eggs will help you conceive in the future.

But I’m just unsure. It’s a lot of additional costs. I do want to have a child in the future but is it bad to want to just wing it and hope that I’ll still be able to conceive naturally after treatment? I just know I would be disheartened if in the future I availed of the egg freezing then it doesn’t work in helping me conceive.

I know that for TNBC, egg freezing is more recommended because of the aggressive chemo regimen also. I’m just super conflicted. Would love to get some insights from those who chose to freeze their eggs and those who didnt and why you picked that choice.

Hi everyone. Today, I just got my treatment plan:

Paclitaxel + Carboplatin for 12 weeks with Pembro every 3 weeks
Epirubicin + Cyclophosphamide every 3 weeks x 4 cycles with Pembro every 3 weeks

1. Surgery
2. Immunotherapy

Chemo will be around 6 months long then I’ll do surgery then immunotherapy again after.

Honestly, my doctor was asking me if I had any questions to ask but I was honestly too overwhelmed with all the foreign words and all the information.

I’m also a little saddened because I can’t immediately start chemo yet, I still need to do my PET scan, 2D echo, egg freezing, and marking of my mass before chemo. I know they mean well but I’m just worried of my mass getting bigger. It already got bigger on my MRI results as well.

I guess I’d just like to hear how fast or slow you guys were able to start chemo after diagnosis and also your thoughts about my treatment plan and how I should prepare for this long journey ahead.

i’ve found myself crying every night in bed ever since i found out i was diagnosed with breast cancer. granted, it has been less than a week since i found out but it’s been hard nonetheless.

during the day, i’m able to put on a brave face in front of my family and friends. i even joke with them about how this will be a breeze, about how i’m excited to wear different wigs when the time comes for me to do chemo, and about how they’ll see on the news that a breast cancer survivor passed the bar exams while undergoing treatments during bar review.

honestly, i feel like i put on that brave face more for my loved ones than for me. because when the door closes and i’m left alone in my room, the mask falls and i can’t help but cry. i am so afraid. i am so afraid of seeing myself bald, i am so afraid of having to get surgery and losing my breasts at such a young age of 26. i don’t know if i’m simply too concerned with looks, but i’m so afraid of being seen differently by my boyfriend or just people in general when i do lose my breasts.

i’m not trying to be negative, it’s just hard for me to come into terms with how different my life has to be now that i have cancer. i keep thinking about my boyfriend’s niece who died from cancer and how she died because she stopped taking her medication for six months without telling anyone in order to feel some normalcy among her peers. she was even younger than me when she was diagnosed.

i haven’t officially started treatment, but i’m so scared. and so, it has been such a comfort for me to watch tiktoks of fellow cancer patients and survivors who vlog about their days. it also makes me feel seen and not so alone when i go through this subreddit. but at the same time, it makes me cry.

hi, everyone. i’m 26 and just got my results today that i have invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (ductal), Nottingham histologic grade 3.

i honestly don’t know what to do. i’m a 3rd year law student whose finals are coming up with an internship during the summer at one of the most prestigious financial firms in the country where i live. but after finding out about this, i feel like i’ll have to say goodbye to my chance at interning in their firm :( i feel like this would delay my bar year as well. i just feel so lost. everything just happened so suddenly, i literally got the biopsy results by email and its crazy how your life can completely change with one email.

it’s such a big thing that it’s almost like my brain shut down to protect me. i cried but i’m not like super freaking out about it. i think its also because i want to just live my life as normally as i still can until my doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning.

i just feel so sad. i had a BIRADS 4a on my ultrasound and i read so many success stories from people about their biopsy results coming out as benign and how there’s only a 2-10% chance of cancer. well, turns out i’m a part of that 2-10% 😅

hello, i’m a 26 year old woman who got back from her ultrasound today and found out ive been raised to birads 4a. i’m going back to my breast surgeon on saturday to schedule a biopsy but i just feel so scared. for the masses that need to be biopsied, 1 is hypoechoic mass with angular margins and interval increase in size, the other one is circumscribed, hypoechoic mass with interval increase in size. i’m just so scared and anxious and have been crying ever since i got back to my apartment. i dont know what to do. i guess im also just so scared bc recently my bf’s cousin who is the same age as me died from breast cancer :(