Breast Cancer
It wasn't helpful that the appointment was at 1640 and that I had reached the diagnosis day but still had to wait for a day to find out. I buried myself in making River's quilt interspersed with lots of hugs and cups of tea from Jezz. The journey to the hospital was sombre and I did the breathe in for 7 and out for 11 technique that Suzannah had equiped me with.
Shelly the consultant came to the waiting room, she said my name and tried to look neutral, gone was her sunny disposition and I knew. We sat down and she got it over with quickly. The lump was cancerous, a Grade 2 (neither fast nor slow growing) and luckily it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes.
There was talk of different treatments but my biopsy results were not complete and it wasn't possible to talk about my specific treatment plan. They also wanted to biopsy the calcification and that was booked in. I did cry a bit and thank god they let Jezz come and sit next to me, the gap between our chairs was way too big and I needed to be close to him. I mainly remember thinking that the green trousers he had on looked great with his boots, not really what I was supposed to be taking in but at least the brain was working! I was asked to talk about my job and was quickly stopped and told that it wasn't the type of job I could do alongside all of the appointments and treatments and was given a sick note which said "Breast Cancer Treatment". There is was in black and white, Breast Cancer.
It was not a long appointment and we soon moved to a less clinical room with Lorna who was in there for the diagnosis and had been designated as my breast care nurse. Lorna let us have a big hug and talked again about treatments, she said that Chemo was likely and that I wouldn't thank them when I wore a vest top if they went straight for a mastectomy if I could get by with a lumpectomy.
So a lumpectomy and radiotherapy was definitely on the cards, Chemo was likely and I hormone treatments were possible, however, I still needed a swathe of other tests which would all be booked in for me over the next couple of weeks. I was given a pack of info to take home and began to ready myself for whatever it was that was to come.
Shelly the consultant came to the waiting room, she said my name and tried to look neutral, gone was her sunny disposition and I knew. We sat down and she got it over with quickly. The lump was cancerous, a Grade 2 (neither fast nor slow growing) and luckily it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes.
There was talk of different treatments but my biopsy results were not complete and it wasn't possible to talk about my specific treatment plan. They also wanted to biopsy the calcification and that was booked in. I did cry a bit and thank god they let Jezz come and sit next to me, the gap between our chairs was way too big and I needed to be close to him. I mainly remember thinking that the green trousers he had on looked great with his boots, not really what I was supposed to be taking in but at least the brain was working! I was asked to talk about my job and was quickly stopped and told that it wasn't the type of job I could do alongside all of the appointments and treatments and was given a sick note which said "Breast Cancer Treatment". There is was in black and white, Breast Cancer.
It was not a long appointment and we soon moved to a less clinical room with Lorna who was in there for the diagnosis and had been designated as my breast care nurse. Lorna let us have a big hug and talked again about treatments, she said that Chemo was likely and that I wouldn't thank them when I wore a vest top if they went straight for a mastectomy if I could get by with a lumpectomy.
So a lumpectomy and radiotherapy was definitely on the cards, Chemo was likely and I hormone treatments were possible, however, I still needed a swathe of other tests which would all be booked in for me over the next couple of weeks. I was given a pack of info to take home and began to ready myself for whatever it was that was to come.
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