hello,
im new to this site but i have been inspired to write this by the people on here, you know that feeling when you get diagnosed that you are so alone even with people around you? well that went away when i came on this site, there are some truly amazing people on her going through the toughest times you are all an inspiration. i would like to share my story, ive had a life changing year but we have had cancer in our family for the last 6 years now. my mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer about 6 years ago, she had half her bowel removed, the cancer then returned on the join about 2 years later, she had her bowel removed and an iliostomy (excuse my medical word spelling!) lots of chemo and treatment and she was doing really well for another couple of years and then last year they found it had spread to her liver, she had a major liver operation to remove two thirds of her liver, fortunately this was a success, needless to say it was the toughest time me and my dad backwards and forwards everyday to high dependency unit in bllackburn which is 45 mins away to see her, but she is an amazing woman and her last scan was thankfully clear, so we were having a bit of a rest from cancer and hospitals last year and then i had to go and spoil it, in july was examining myself as i regularly do and found a small lump, i think i knew straight away what it was even though id had fatty lumps before this was different, rang the docs who couldnt fit me in until the end of the week even though i explained, so a worry filled few days, saw my doc and she had had breast cancer herself so she refers everyone with any lump which is good. so my trips to hospital started from there, had ultra sound then biopsy then was diagnosed with breast cancer, i remember getting the news, the doc put his hand on my shoulder and just said im afraid it is cancer, i dont think my mouth has ever been so dry and i thought i was gonna throw up. my mum came in and she was amazing even though she had been through it herself and it was her daughter she kept it together for me, so from there its been a blur two ops one to remove the lump and then to remove the lymph nodes, these were sucessful which is a positive, the fact that it had only spread to 10 out of 19 lymph nodes is a positive, isnt it amazing where you find positives in all of this? started my fec chemo last week, have been quite sick with it but i do have a very sensitive stomach so to be expected, gotta have 2 more then i think im on tax is it? then raditoherapy then tablets for years, but if it makes me better then its worth it. also just after i was diagnosed my nana who was 90 got diagnosed with bladder cancer, she died a couple of months ago, we werent very close but it still is something else the family has had to del with. but out of all of this it has changed the way i live my life, each day is a blessing im not religious but i believe you should live each day to the fullest, positive thinking is our buzz word and it sounds cliched but i dont care it works, it worked for my amazing mum and its gonna work for me. wow i dont know where all that came form think i just needed to get that off my chest. hello to anyone reading this and i hope you are well or you are getting there keep thinking positive there are good things out there i fell in love just before i was diagnosed and my partner has been my rock, so keep smiling.
sam
xxx
