In the middle of August 2020 I found a lump in my left breast whilst having a shower. I was immediately frightened and didn't do anything about it until a week later when I told my mother and my Aunty Mary that I had found a lump the previous week. They advised me to ring my GP the following day and make an appointment.
I rang my GP the following day and because of Covid arranged a phone appointment for the next day which was a Tuesday. The next day when I had my phone consult she asked me to come and see her that afternoon which I did. After feeling the lump she asked me whether I wanted to go public or private, and I said private as I have private health insurance through work. She than rang a Professor Gerry O'Donghue's secretary and asked for an urgent appointment. I got an appointment about a week later with him and after examining me he said he was going to send me for a mammogram and a scan as soon as possible. Three day after my appointment with him I got a call from the Breast Clinic to say they were sending me for the mammogram and ultrasound on Wednesday of that week.
On the Wednesday I had a mammogram done and then an ultrasound scan. While doing the ultrasound they found a second lump under my arm pit. It was a complete shock and it was then that I knew that I had Breast Cancer. I had biopsies done on both lumps. They said I should have the results the following week. My Mum had come with me and when I saw her again I told her about the lump under my arm.
The wait for my results was hard, I kept going from I have Breast Cancer to the lumps were benign or one of them was. Boy was I wrong.
The following Tuesday I got a letter giving me an appointment two days later at the Breast for my results. The next two days were a rollercoaster of emotions between thinking that everything was going to be fine and thinking that I have Breast Cancer, I even had a dream on the day of the results that everything was going to be fine. When we got to to the hospital we had our temperatures taken before going up to the Breast Clinic for my appointment. After about a two hour wait I was eventually called in to his consulting room by my surgeon to get my results. The first thing he did was examine me, which is when I knew it was cancer. When he had finished examining me I sat down in front of him and that's when he said to me that he was sorry to say there's was cancer in both the lumps. He then said that he was sending me for a staging scan the following Monday. When I asked him about my treatment plan he said he couldn't make any plans until he had the results of my scans, and that he would see me the following week and give me my treatment plan then.
There was a nurse called Rose sitting near him and she told me that she was my Breast Care Nurse and that she would be looking after me whilst I was having treatment. I liked her straight away. She then brought me into her office and give me some leaflets and booklets about Breast Cancer. She also gave me my appointment letters for my CT Scan and Necular Bone Scan for the following Monday. She also gave me leaflets explaining about the scans. More on those in the next episode.
