@oliviasj Next steps will depend on your specific case. After your surgery, your medical team will develop a treatment plan tailored just for you. I’ve found it helpful not to worry too much about what comes next—taking things one step at a time can really help ease the stress.

If your doctor has said your cancer is growing slowly, there’s no reason to believe it's suddenly spreading quickly to your lymph nodes. Staying focused on your immediate next steps is key: prepare for your surgery, nourish your body with natural, healthy foods, get good sleep, and remind yourself that you’re in excellent hands with your medical team.

Right now, your body needs your immune system to be as strong as possible—so put your energy into supporting your well-being. One day at a time.Good luck!

All of the unknowns are scary. Keep a list of your questions on paper that you can bring with you to doctor appointments. Ask about everything you can think of. The answers are comforting sometimes and upsetting sometimes. After your surgery and they do an analysis of your breast tissue, you will know more about your particular cancer and They will stage you or do an antitype or similar analysis and give you your percentage risk of recurrence under various conditions. All of that being unknown now is scary. The surgery itself going in there is scary. But coming out happens quickly and you’ll see that you can manage the aftermath of the surgery. The first day is kind of groggy and you might want pain meds. But it’s really as I said above manageable. You take your pain meds with the doctor tells you to take and you stay on top of those and you really are not super uncomfortable at all. It’s mostly the feeling of compression and that’s from the stuffing and the bra that they put on you very tight. You just have to grin and Barrett. Again you wait in between all of these appointments and the information and it’s really hard to wait. You fear the worst all the time. So do your best to stay positive. Keep your mind busy. In those moments when it creeps up on you, do the New York Times puzzles or some sort of brain teaser and get out of your head. Meditation is great. Unplugged, which is an app, has free May meditations. They’re short and great to do first thing in the morning when the fear creeps in. I hope this helps. If you want me to get more specific, I can. But I don’t think it’s really a good thing necessarily for you because you’ll be on your own kind of journey and things that were difficult for me. Might be easier for you. OK. I’m thinking of you and sending prayers.