The story so far

2 minute read time.

FormerMember

29 Mar 2019

Okay, so having never done anything like this before I have decided to start a blog so I have somewhere safe to offload and so I can keep some sort of record of how things are going.

Please bear with me through his

At the grand old age of 46 I found a lump 16/17 Feb 2019 and having a family history of breast cancer figured it might be a good idea to get myself off to the docs. Roll on Monday 18th Feb and I'm at the GP's. When the doc says "So where is this... ah" you start to realise you did not imagine this!

Referred to Peterborough City Hospital on 1st March and here we go.

I was followed by a medical student which was fine but she had best work on her poker face before dealing with patients directly . Had the delights of a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsies from three different areas including the lymph nodes. Have to say I was not holding my breath about the outcome.

Was called back on short notice on 14th March to get the diagnosis of "grade 2 lobular carcinoma with axillary metastases, ER8, PR8, HER2 negative" or in plain English breast cancer involving the lymph nodes. Guess I'll be hearing a lot of medical terms in the near future.

Next steps are MRI, CT scan and full body bone scan in order to find out exactly where the cancer is and what stage it is at. These are booked for 1st and 4th April with the results and outcomes on 11th April.

The consultant and breast cancer nurse said that expectations are for chemo and surgery with the possibility of radiotherapy as well.

Didn't really have the whole shock reaction as I had been half expecting this at some point in my life but did do the angry with the world bit for a couple of days until I realised that was not going to get me anywhere. Now mainly frustrated as I cannot organise anything in my life until I get my treatment plan which will hopefully be on the 11th April.

So fingers crossed the sodding cancer has not spread anywhere else.

On the positive side. I don't have to pay for prescriptions for the next 5 years, I will possibly get a fair chunk of summer off work and I might manage to lose some weight at long last. Apologies but dark humour is likely to be one of the things that get me through this!

FormerMember over 5 years ago

I'm going throu radiotherapy for breast cancer at the moment it's more emotionally draining than physically as family and friends don't seem to under stand
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Billythedog over 5 years ago

Hi and good luck for april. My wife is going through hell with Lung Cancer.(small cell advanced) Keep doing what your doing with the Black Humor. You may not win every fight but you will win the war!
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FormerMember over 5 years ago

Hey Lisa, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Dark humour is good mate, keep the glass half full at all times and tip the half empty one over anyone that doubts you !

My other half was in the doldrums (understandably) 5 years ago when she was given a terminal prognosis for stage 4 bowel cancer with Lymph involvement. The oncologists offered chemo (almost with a “we must do something” attitude”) and I kept geeing her up with my upbeat attitude. Another month and all looks well, another three monthly scan and no sign of it coming back, another 6 months and so on, here we are 5 years down the road. I think humour is such a positive thing, if you’re a happy person it’s infectious, everyone around you seems to tag onto that smile, that giggle. And as you say, what’s the point of being down, it won’t change anything you’ll just waste precious time, make positive memories, not just for you, but for those around you, it’s important for them as well. They are suffering too, and a positive take on things will have such a profound effect on their journey with you.

As for my little princess, well, she still has the anxiety and fear of a return, that never seems to go, but the periods in between those dark thoughts seem to extend as time goes on.

i have my own cross to cart around, but I accept that, and just crack on with it, there are too many people that (little do we know it) depend on us, our kids, grandchildren friends and extended family, all those people would be pretty devastated to see us ill and unhappy. So when people ask me how I am, I just say I’m fine, because today I am, sun is out, flowers are blooming and the worlds an ok place, for however long we are in it. All of us have a clock ticking, some are wound to run for longer than others, but eventually they all run down. Make the most of those good memories, for you and everyone around you. Oh and don’t forget.........fill that glass to half full, and enjoy it xx
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FormerMember over 5 years ago

Hi Lisa! I too was diagnosed with breast cancer in April. I started my chemo on the 28th May. My 2nd lot is next week. Like you I had been expecting it at some stage. I'm 49, living in Ireland and our health service here has been fantastic so far. Keep smiling and positive - it's the only way to kick this in the balls! Xxxx
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FormerMember over 5 years ago

Hey lisa im in a very similar position Grade 2 lobular breast cancer with other areas of DCIS my nodes appeared clear on ultrasound but having had a lumpectomy to get main lump out while waiting for possible reconstruction slots ...she did sentinel  Node biopsy to check  ..was hoping for them to be entirely clear but came back with the first node mildly diseased and second clear so didn’t require any further clearance  I consider myself lucky In this respect but stkll felt disappinted 
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