Dear Michelle,
Welcome to our TNBC family. I believe you will get good support here.
Your thread is a very important one and your thoughts are shared by many even though many are reluctant to talk about it. Thank you for bringing the topic up.
When my daughter was first diagnosed with TNBC 8 years ago, I was petrified. So much so that I decided to see a therapist. And fortunately, I was advised to see a wonderful woman, Dr. Karen Hurley at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NY.
Her specialty is speaking with folks affected by inherited diseases such as the BRCA mutation I have and passed to my daughter.
Michelle, I think, if you can, it would help to consult with a therapist who really 'gets' what this is all about. A friend of mine with serious disease told me, after trying to assimilate the difficult prognosis, "this is all so surreal; but it is real." A good cancer center usually have folks who can help and a good oncologist should also be able to recommend someone to help you.
Cancer doesn't come with a manual of how to handle e.g. predictions of a shortened life expectancy.
I would like to make one suggestion and that is to "try and find the beauty in each day." Some days,I know, easier said than done, but please try.
warmly,
Steve