Being a daughter, I was the first person to whom my mom shared (even before dad) that she felt a lump upon her breast. She was worried and so was I. But decided against letting her know my concern through my expressions.
I told her "Mom, I guess it won't be something major. But still lets go to family doctor and get it examined."
My straight forward reply did make her feel better and less worried. But soon a visit to doctor turned every nightmare into reality.
She cried. She was scared. She faked smile but from with in she was sad. She was just being humane. It was like one fine day you wake up and realize that you have a cancer. This mere thought would be enough for someone to get a heart attack!
We still did not want to take risks so, as suggested by doctor, we got few tests done! They were positive. Now the questions began - What to do now? Who would be a best doctor? What would be the treatment like? How bad would the cancer be? What stage of cancer it is? Would i get bald through treatment? and on and on...
Every time we got nearer to the answer of any of these questions, answer changed!!!
Thanks to the human habit of asking lot of people for their opinions. Mr. A said that Dr. X was good and best for breast cancer, we took his appointment. Than, Mr. B has his opinion for Dr. Y, we ended up showing him too. This happens to everyone and we were no exceptions.
Panic and stress for patient and family members was unavoidable.