Show Up. Breathe. Trust

Coming up for air

2021-05-26T21:25:00Z

Today it feels as if I am coming up for air after what has undoubtedly been the hardest, darkest week of my treatment so far. The physical and mental impact of round three of chemotherapy has been significantly worse than the first two, and has ...(read more)

And gone...

2021-05-26T20:56:00Z

This morning we made the final cut. Stroking my back as I sat hunched over the bath, sobbing quietly, Rob gently shaved off the last of my patchy hair, taking it down to the tender scalp. It was a much needed step, and a relief in many ways. Over t...(read more)

Going, going...so nearly gone

2021-05-26T20:53:00Z

"Will I lose my hair?" is apparently the most common first question people ask when told they need chemotherapy. It wasn't mine. I automatically assumed that I would and in the grand scheme of gigantic things to get my head around post-diagnosis, fr...(read more)

Avengers Assemble

2021-05-26T20:49:00Z

Tomorrow, I start chemotherapy and, quite honestly, I am scared. I have just come off my pre-chemo phone consultation in which a very chirpy specialist nurse revisited the incredibly lengthy catalogue of potential and likely side effects and some of ...(read more)

Picking my battles

2021-05-26T20:46:00Z

"Pick your battles wisely" goes the saying. And so, in pursuit of wisdom, I choose not to wage a militaristic campaign against cancer. I am not at war. I am not battling it, or fighting it. The words we use are important in defining how ...(read more)

Our cancer

2021-05-26T20:44:00Z

Last week my 16-year-old son asked, with some trepidation, if he could see my mastectomy. I felt overwhelmingly proud of him. For him to ask took courage and emotional maturity - at the same time as being curious I could see that he was also unsure...(read more)

Cancer free?

2021-05-26T20:40:00Z

‘As far as we can see you are now cancer free’ my surgeon told me today. Everyone is telling me this is great news. So why don’t I feel relieved? We have been waiting for today’s post-mastectomy follow-up appointment with tr...(read more)

Show Up. Breathe. Trust.

2021-05-26T20:36:00Z

‘Show up. Breathe. Trust’ – this was my mantra the morning of my mastectomy. Threatened by the potential for spiralling fears on the eve of an operation to remove my left breast and all of my lymph nodes in my left armpit, this c...(read more)