Carried on Eagles' Wings

About Those Wings

2023-08-08T23:10:40Z

9 August 2023. One year ago today I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The previous six weeks had been a rollercoaster of emotions: fear, anxiety, dread, but also acceptance and peace. Those who know me best would say that I can be a glass-half-...(read more)

10 Weeks Post-Surgery

2023-05-31T22:41:15Z

Apart from an infection in one of my wounds which required several visits to the breast unit and two weeks of antibiotics, healing and recovery have progressed well and I am very, very pleased with the new me! My surgeons did a brilliant job of remov...(read more)

How it all began - Prologue: the final (long!) part

2023-05-19T00:04:13Z

Another sleepless night before going to get the biopsy results at the breast clinic. We sat in the waiting room and, although we knew what was coming, we were quite calm. Fiona, the consultant surgeon, came straight to the point. I looked across at h...(read more)

How it all began – Prologue Part 3

2023-04-21T23:32:26Z

The rollercoaster ride continued after the holiday. Just one day back at work before my appointment at the breast clinic. Work kept me very busy and distracted much of the time. But the impending appointment was never far from my mind and the waves o...(read more)

How it all began - Prologue Part 2

2023-04-09T11:18:00Z

The day after seeing my GP I went back to work. It was a Friday, 1st July. Mid-morning I received a telephone call from the hospital to invite me to attend the Breast Unit on 15 July, in exactly two weeks’ time.We had booked to go on holid...(read more)

Ten days post-surgery

2023-04-02T22:51:00Z

I didn’t sleep very well the night before, even though I was no longer feeling anxious about having surgery. I was confident that my surgical team would do a great job and I was encouraged by lovely messages and prayers from family and friends....(read more)

How it all began - Prologue Part 1

2023-03-20T16:15:15Z

I have encountered a few obstacles to maintaining a healthy weight for many years, probably since the birth of our second child, and certainly since hitting the menopause. Firstly, I love food and although I enjoy a healthy, mainly pescatar...(read more)

Update and Prep for Surgery

2023-03-12T23:01:56Z

Just a little update as the last one was over a month ago. It feels strange not to be having the three-weekly PICC line maintenance, blood tests and chemo, but I’m not missing them! I’m so happy to have those behind me now. I do still nee...(read more)

Chemo: The Final Score and Outcome

2023-02-09T12:54:33Z

Chemo 1 Team Amy 6 My final chemo cycle got me a bit down for about 7 days: no pleasure in eating, low mood, even gave in to self-soothing tears on one occasion, and missed three days of walking/exercise. But I started bouncing back quite quic...(read more)

Today I wept

2023-01-27T00:11:25Z

Thursday, 26 January For the first time since all this began, I cried for myself today. I’ve been feeling increasingly unhappy since Sunday, day 5 of this final chemo cycle. If you’ve read my previous posts, you might guess that it has to...(read more)

Chemo Wins Round 6

2023-01-17T22:23:14Z

Chemo 1 Team Amy 5 Much as I would like to pretend otherwise, my last cycle on 28 December got the better of me. The day after the Docetaxel infusion and Phesgo injection, the taste changes started to kick in; well, they hadn't co...(read more)

Letter to a friend

2023-01-04T13:54:35Z

For the past 13 months I have been following Becky’s experience with glioblastoma. On 23 December I wrote her a letter. That letter and her reply are below. Following surgery yesterday, Becky finds herself on the very edge of a precipice. My pr...(read more)

Chemo Countdown! #6 Today!

2022-12-28T01:00:25Z

The score so far: Chemo 0 Team Amy123 5 One day later than scheduled due to the Christmas holidays, Chemo #6 is this afternoon. I’m feeling great, even...(read more)

Docetaxel-Phesgo – She was pretty spot on

2022-12-05T22:52:37Z

Another cycle ticked off, the fourth of seven, so we’re more than halfway through chemo! #5 tomorrow morning. For #4 I switched to a new cocktail of chemo and targeted therapy drugs and I’d been a bit apprehensive about possible adverse s...(read more)

Macmillan Heroes

2022-11-15T00:23:00Z

Today (Tuesday) I switch to a different chemo drug (Docetaxel/Taxotere), together with a targeted therapy (Phesgo). I will also continue with the bone marrow injections (G-CSF) for seven days after each cycle. Once again, I read up on the side e...(read more)