I went to see my doctor today and I was diagnosed with

[frazzled]

35. If I might disagree a bit on one point

When my husband was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma (went from perfect health to Stage 3 within a week, by which time the disease spread throughout his body, including large masses on the liver and spleen), his oncologist told us quite seriously not to start reading everything to be found (and especially not to check mortality rates): there are many forms of this cancer (as is the case with other forms of cancer), and many individual variations in response to treatment. She did tell us we could go to the one national lymphoma organization website for general information about his specific type, but to avoid much beyond that.

I think it was the best advice we could have gotten, even though it was against my natural instincts: it allowed us to focus like lasers on the day-by-day treatment at hand rather than "what ifs" and "oh my gods." We were thrown into biopsies and PET scans and molecular tests and bone-marrow testing within hours after diagnosis, and within days landed in the hospital. We just approached each procedure, and each chemo treatment, and each scan and blood test as a step along a path, with the assumption that there would be progress. I think this positive attitude was at least a part of what eventually led to his recovery, even though it was a long, hard slog.

If there had not been improvement, I did know what the next steps would be (stem cell); but it would have been detrimental, I think, to fully explore such options until the first had failed.

My advice is, if you have a good oncologist who explains things thoroughly and treats you as capable of understanding the medical points, and whom you implicitly trust, put yourself fully into their hands, have someone there to ask questions for you and write everything down (because you won't process it yourself), and adhere religiously to everything the doctors tell you to do. We were lucky to have top-notch doctors and a superb hospital, as well as generous insurance. I know not everyone does ... and maybe in that case it becomes necessary to be your own researcher.

I have great hope that the OP will get through this. The advances in treatment today are amazing. But add to them a hopeful, positive, and determined attitude. It may sound corny, but I do believe that believing the treatments will work (as opposed to seeking out potential alternatives) is a valuable asset.