I'm utterly and completely exhausted after a completely mad three days, especially Friday night when I managed three different social events, hurtling across London from one to another! I may actually have to go back to bed having waved off the last of the weekend guests but I thought I'd just stop by and wave to everyone and offer up alcohol soaking up bacon buttys, not to mention a very nice Betty's stem ginger cake they left as a thank you
Loma I was diagnosed in ancient times, August 2001, and given some really unacceptable statistics about my chances, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the Tamoxifen. I totally understand about keeping it private to cope, I hid away whilst coming to terms with it, because I didn't feel I could hold it together if I was with someone who cared. I remember one day venturing out the door to get something and bumping into one of my closest friends and becoming a blubbering mess which I hated. However as others have said it is the uncertainty that is worst, once you know what you are facing you can get on with accepting it and doing whatever you have to do.
My oldest daughter was an old for her age 9 and already a Scientist in the making so we were totally open about my dx and discussed it all in detail. We also had the baggage that my closest friend had recently died of Bowel Cancer, after a short and brutal illness, her DCs had practically lived with us throughout so we felt it was vital that we gave her the facts to make sure she was very clear that this was different. Indeed her husband came and took my DDs out with his DCs to make sure they all understood that. She now says she is really grateful that we were so open about it because it gave her something rational to focus on rather than allowing irrational fears to build. She still has issues with it though, from the point of view that she learned so young that she couldn't have total confidence that her parents were always going to be there.
Birdland The mastectomy in physical terms is really no big deal, in fact an American friends actually had it as day surgery. There's no muscle damaged so it is more that it stings than is actually painful. I had pethidine immediately after but when they offered me some the next day I really didn't feel I needed it (why on earth did I refuse FREE legal drugs??) . I had had a lumpectomy three days earlier as well but it still didn't take long to recover. The worst thing for me was the drains but they go after three days. The main thing is not to stubbornly go driving your DCs around straight after as you end up having to have more drains and freezing up your shoulder....
gigs the ironman contact sounds interesting, go for it. Exercise was really important to me during my recovery, My friends and I had had a vision whilst we were going through chemo, that we would one day stand on top of a mountain together feeling healthy and fit again, and we did, and still have an annual hiking weekend.