I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer 15/12/2022 after having my first mammogram 16/11/2022. I received a call back letter which I was told was normal sometimes after your first mammogram so I wasn’t overly worried. I attended the 06/12/2022 appointment and from then on my life went into a tale spin, I think I’m still spinning! I met a lovely BCN who explained that my mammogram had shown up an abnormity in my left breast. As soon as she showed me I instinctively knew what it was, it’s a feeling I cannot explain but I just knew. I had to return to the waiting room and tell my husband, the tears in his eyes broke my heart. A few minutes later I was whisked off for a more in depth mammogram, an ultrasound and 3 biopsies. The lovely radiographer showed me 3 tumours 8mm,4mm and 6mm in my breast, I named them Meeny, Miney, and Mo! They were in a row so it was said that would make surgery quite straightforward.
I was given an appointment for the next Thursday 15/12/2022. I met my consultant who was very nice but also very to the point, she told me that unfortunately I did have breast cancer but it was treatable ‘the best one to get!!!’. She then ran through my options and after examining me politely told me I had droopy boobies, I heard the chuckle from my husband. Breast ptosis is the official term. After going through the options I chose to have a therapeutic mammoplasty where both breasts are made the same size. I met my BCN Lily who was absolutely lovely and went through more details with me. I was then told to go home and enjoy Christmas.
I wanted the world to stop and let me off, I was spinning so fast I really didn’t know what to say, think, feel or do!
Then I had to tell my family, oh god what words was I going to use. My dad swore and my daughter cried.
I needed normality so I went back to work, I work for the Prison Service with a fabulous group of people but I had to tell them too!! I told them all but was very firm that I’m not to be treated any differently and they weren’t to wrap me in cottonwool. Bring on the banter and awful jokes but lots and lots of laughter which was great.
28/12/2022 I went to sign the consent forms for surgery and have my pre op assessment. My surgery was booked for 19/01/2023 I was going to have ‘seeds’ implanted into my tumours 10/01/2023, apparently this would make surgery more precise and they could scan for the seeds and go directly to the right place. 18/01/2023 I was going to have a radioactive injection which when combined with a blue dye would highlight the lymph nodes that were closest to my breast. Side effect blue boobie 
.So I had a plan, for the first time I felt I was in control, silly me!!! 03/01/2023 I receive a telephone call telling me my surgery had been brought forward to 11/01/2023. Now the radioactive injection would be done on the morning of my surgery. The dreaded spinning had returned.
Surgery day arrived, unfortunately I was almost last on the list so I had a bit of a wait, due to Covid I had to sit alone in a room thank god I could have my mobile phone.
Six hours of surgery and I was back on a ward, surprisingly I didn’t feel too bad but I was bleeding a lot so was under close supervision for 36 hours. Finally I could go home but I had to sleep on the recliner chair so I didn’t roll over in the night and hurt myself.
I had some very colourful bruises and my dressings changed every other day and binged watched junk on the telly. I made sure I did as I was told so I didn’t set back my recovery. It was hard but I knew it was for my own benefit.
I had 7 weeks off work, my Oncotype DX tests came back at 11 so thankfully I didn’t need Chemotherapy but I did need Radiotherapy. The surgery had revealed a hidden 16mm tumour but it was all gone, my lymph nodes were clear and so were my margins.
I’m now halfway through 23 sessions of Radiotherapy and when that’s over I’ll need Tamoxifen for 5 years. I’m still working a few hours a day but I’m tired and sore, roll on 14/04/2023 my last radiotherapy session.
Thank goodness for mammograms.
When I’ve been asked how I’m coping I always say “ I just put my big girl pants on and get on with it ‘. I’ve tried to stay positive, it hasn’t been easy and I’ve spent nights alone in front of the wood burner with my dog sobbing my heart out but not for long, I’ve been angry, I’ve been scared but I also know I’ve been incredibly lucky.
Lots of love and good luck to everyone fighting this awful disease .
