Once again my fiance went with me to my appointment. This time it was at the specialist centre and we were taken into a nice little room with sofas. I should have twigged something was up when the breast care nurse (BCN) asked if I wanted them to record the session for me (which I said yes to).
My mind was sitting in some isolated place of calm not really taking in the impact of what was being said to me - a very surreal feeling. When I went back and listened to the CD it was as though I were at a work project meeting dealing with a problem and working up solutions then thanking the team so much for their time! Almost funny in a way :)
Anyhow, the diagnosis was grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma which was ER- and PR-. They had not yet tested for HER2 and advised they would do this after the lumpectomy. I was also advised that I should have chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery due to the aggressive nature of the tumour, my young age, and family history. Great that they are happy to throw everything at it, just a shame I have to go through it at all.
The NICE 4 week treatment guideline is from diagnosis date so the clock started ticking here. This presented them with a problem because I was due to get married in Norway on 17th April and would be there the week before and having a mini-moon the week after. This meant that they had to get me in for pre-op the following week and scheduled me in for surgery on 26th April as soon as I was back. What a start to married life...
