I am well and truly on my way on this cancer journey now & I cant believe that so far I havent written a blog.... I suppose until now I have managed to keep myself very busy & havent really had the time to. Now just about to start my 3rd Cycle on Chemo Im in the house a great deal more & feel as though I have a lot more time to dedicate to it! I will give it a go anyway.... hoping that it will give insight to women who are not as far down the path as me and also hoping that it may help me understand how im actually feeling a little more.
Ive got toal 'Chemo Brain' so have mistakingly called my blog 'My Introduction to Blogging' - that is what I wanted to call this particular entry but 'hey-ho!' I will leave it as it is and hope that in a few months time I can look back and laugh at why my blog has such a random title! lol x
I will start my blog with my story so far and will pick it up from there......
MY STORY
Something Not Quite Right - I found a lump at the end of Sept 09 & visited my GP the same week. I was referred to the hospital for an Ultrasound but was told it was likely to be nothing because I had age on my side. The Ultrasound didnt give a difinitive answer initially and so I was told to keep an eye on it & re-visit my GP should i notice any change. I was told it was likely to be a bruise and if so, they didnt want to put a needle in in case they aggravated it.
Bruise / Abcess / Cancer? - I was, however, called back to the hospital for further Ultrasound Scans. I was told that on second opinion, the nurses had been told to keep an eye on it. I visited the hospital fortnightly over the next 2-3 months each time asking the doctors & nurses 'Do I have cancer?'. Each time getting told 'No.'
Biopsy - Finally, in December, they decided to biopsy as the lump was not getting any smaller. It was a very small lump and so the biopsy was not easy, it was very painful but I was going to get an answer at last.
Results - Around a week before Christmas I was told that I had a cancerous tumour growing in my right breast. By this point I also had a small lump growing in my left breast. I had several biopsies, each returning a normal result for the left breast. I was sent for MRI scan to define the results. MRI showed small cancerous tumour in right breast, nothing else.
Next Step : Surgery - My surgeon decided on going for a Lumpectomy with Sentinel Node Removal. I had this done in January. The results had to show a 1cm margin of cancer free tissue around the tumour, unfortunately, one of my margins out of five tested was only a couple millimetres. I was expecting to have to have my breast removed then but my surgeon said that he would be happy to go back in the same scar and take a shaving from that area. I also had the option of having the lump removed from my left breast while under the anaesthetic, I thought it be best to go ahead. I had that operation in February and was only in hospital a day. The results showed no cancer in both biopsies so I didnt need any more surgery.
Results - My cancer was a tumour 1.7cm x 1cm, hormone fed and was HER-2 negative. Apparently if you are going to get breast cancer, this is the best to get as so much is known about it as far as treating it and preventing it goes. Also, out of 5/6 Sentinel Nodes removed, they were all clear. I was happy until I found out that my cancer was Grade 3 - Stage 1. I had been expecting to have the surgery and then 3weeks of radiotherpay and then 5 years of Tamoxifen but now I was left facing Chemo also.
Chemo - I am currently going through Chemo (6 Cycles of EC). My 1st cycle started 15.03.10, everything went well, used the cold cap, still expereienced quite a lot of hair loss around day 20 but didnt have it shaven off or cut, I was little nauseous, tired but not half as bad as expected. I did expereince a great deal od 'Chemo Brain' but that is more funny than upsetting. My 2nd cycle started 08.04.10. I experienced a little more nausea, definitely more fatigue, terrible heart burn & indegestion, complications around day 12/13 (sickness, diahorrea & temperature) was admitted into hospital for 48hours of intravenous antibiotics as my white blood count was very low. Told I can be given an injection before my next chemo to help my bone marrow produce more blood cells or my chemo dosage will have to be lowered as this is likely to happen again. My 3rd Cycle due 27.04.10......
....... Watch this space xXx
