I was diagnosed with breast cancer on 18 June 2015. The previous week I was told they had seen an area of calcification on my mammogram which looked different to the previous one (my first). I'd had a biopsy of that there and then, which was a very unpleasant experience and I had not taken anyone with me for this appointment, expecting it all to be fine.
So, for the next appointment I took my husband, I also told my sister about it all, that I was going for the results and that it might mean some surgery. I had looked up calcifications online and thought that at worst I had Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) which, though it could mean an operation to remove it, it wasn't a life threatening condition as such.
So, at my second appointment, sitting opposite the doctor, with a breast care nurse in the room and my husband next to me, I really and truly was not expecting the doctor to say they had found some invasive cancer in the biopsy. I remember distinctly the feeling of going cold. Literally, that saying 'my blood ran cold' it's true, it really did.
My husband said later he knew it was bad news when he saw 'that other woman sitting there with a handful of leaflets'
I was given the leaflets in a nice brightly coloured pack, on the inside my handwritten diagnosis, 1.5 cm grade 2 invasive ductal cancer, HER2+.
After getting the news, we went into the car park to hug and cry and to wish this wasn't happening. Then I had to go back inside and have two more of the hideous biopsies. One on each side, examining two other areas of calcification that looked suspicious.
The waiting is the hardest part.
