Family first

I found out on a Friday and first tried to protect my husband from learning about it before I could tell him that evening.  He is a physician and I knew the mammogram report would be faxed to his office.  I didn't want him to be distracted with his patients that day.  Luckily for me, my whole immediate family was gathering for breakfast the next day.  It was not easy to tell them but it was good, I think, to tell everyone at once.  That Sunday, it was announced at church.  I was very positive and felt like everything would be okay, as most patients with early stage (I-III) do well.

For some reason, I was logical and unemotional after diagnosis.  I am a physician myself and I went into "clinical mode".  I knew when the Radiologist showed me the suspicious mammogram that it was definitely cancer.  I never experienced "please let it not be cancer!", it just was.  I set about the tasks that needed to be done, like getting an appt for a biopsy and getting my records sent over.