Getting the Results Back:

This is a day to prepare for carefully. You will have probably two days after the biopsy before you get the results. If the results come up cancer there are some things that you will want to have ready, so I would prepare for it anyway. Here is what I advise:

Take someone with you to the appointment. Don't feel that you have to be brave and go alone. There is no need to have to do that. There are plenty of people who would like to be there for support. Even if the news comes up that you're in the clear, it will be an emotional experience. You can celebrate with your friend if it is good news, and if it is cancer they will be there to lean on. It would be advisable to have someone to drive you home in either circumstance.
Take a blank book or notebook with you so that if it is cancer you can have any instructions written down. As much as you are paying attention to the doctors, this is a very intense moment in your life and I guarantee you will not remember everything they tell you. Do not be embarrassed to ask them to write down all of their instructions and information. They want you to have the best information and will be happy to do anything to make sure that happens. This notebook can also be helpful to you throughout your treatment process. I write down questions I have as I think of them; then when I go to my appointments I have all my questions with me and do not need to fear forgetting one. Plus, I can write the answers down in the same book.
Arrange beforehand for people to help call all your loved ones with the news. This is not something you need to do yourself, but your friends and family will want to know. I had a friend on each coast help with all my phone calls. Something else is that when the calls are made be sure to tell people not to call you for about 48 hours. Everyone will want to call right away and it is just too draining to talk to all those people at once. Ask them to spread it out. Maybe have them sign up for days throughout the next week to call and talk to you.
You will probably be told to have a CT Scan the next day. DOUBLE CHECK on the instructions for this. There was a mix-up when I went to mine and no one told me to go to the hospital the night before for Barium. Thus adding to my stress the day of the test when we had to rearrange things and put a different mixture into my body, one that didn't sit as well as it might have.
Remember to ask anything you want to know. Anything. Why is this room blue? Ask it. No question is unreasonable at a time like this.
Purchase a good book on cancer. The one I like is Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy: How Cancer is Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day. It answers all my questions and has great tips on nutrition and other such things. You should be able to find it at your local bookseller, and if not go to Li's Bookstore, in association with Amazon.Com, and order it online. Amazon has reasonable prices (cheaper than your local bookstore, even after shipping) and ship to your door.
Buy a good engagement calendar. You're going to start living your life around doctor's appointments and blood tests. You want a good calendar that has pages where you can see your treatment schedule at a glance as well as areas large enough to write instructions about particular appointments.
Buy a small photo album and have all your friends and relatives send current pictures of themselves. This way if you have to spend any time in the hospital you can take it with you, and at any time in the process you are feeling down or alone you can open up this book and see all the people who care about and support you. I know that every time I look at mine I feel stronger and feel happier.

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