Hi Stormy, and everyone else here.
I'm one of the old-timers, having had my diagnosis five years ago, followed by two sorts of chemo, surgery, radiotherapy and Herceptin.
Occasionally I pop in with nifty news and top tips.
Nothing scarier than the wait for results and a cunning plan. We've all been there. Really flummoxing stuff.
OK, the good news is that lumps in a boob cannot kill you. They are very annoying, but you cannot die from them. Treatment is so good now that even if it's got beyond the boob into some other place in the body, you're still unlikely to die. For example, if it ended up in the liver as well, these days they have five excellent treatments for that. A good 9 out of 10 people will live every bit as long as everyone else, after having breast cancer. Some live with cancer long term, and still continue to go on holiday, down the pub or whatever else. It's becoming a long term nuisance like having diabetes, for a growing number of people. The unlucky 10% includes people who were jolly ill with other things too, or very elderly and not so able to cope with treatments, or people who didn't go through with all the treatments, or had the occasional baffling team who don't use the most recent treatments. So it's very hard to die from it now.
Having said that, there's no guarantees, of course. And the treatment is doable, but isn't a lot of fun although I worked through chemo, rads etc (quite mad, but some bodies don't seem to really mind it. Herceptin didn't like me, though...).
Anyway, right now you need a strong virtual cuppa, and the chance to chat to the good folk here. Whatever's ahead, there are people who have been there before you, and know what's what. You're not alone. And when you get your treatment plan, you may find it's a relief and doable.