A Breast Cancer Update

Today I want to share a breast cancer update. I feel like it’s important to share a little about my journey here, it’s a huge part of my life so it feels disingenuous not to.

At the same time, I don’t want it to take over this space, take all over all that I do, all that I am. 

I think I’ll just dip in now and then and share my thoughts. I do also share over on social media as I’m living this new reality, if you want to find out more. 

Anyway, back to the update. 

I had my surgery in early June, and I got the results of that surgery a little over a week ago. It was a fair old wait.

That’s the thing about cancer that you don’t really think about unless you’ve been through it yourself. The waiting. 

The waiting, the wondering, the hoping, it’s just as much a part of this disease as all of the physical things that you have to go through. 

Anyway, the results were about as good as they could have been at this point.

The cancer hasn’t spread further than they expected, and it hasn’t got into my lymph nodes and started moving elsewhere. 

This means I don’t need to have any further surgery, which is what I’d been hoping to hear. 

I am now being passed onto my oncologist to plan the next stages of my treatment and I’ll be meeting with him soon and will find out more about what this all entails.

I’m meeting him at a different hospital to where my surgeon is based, and it’s much more local to me. I’m hoping all of my oncology meetings will be there going forward. 

Another thing you don’t really think about, the travelling and journeys to different hospitals. The time, the costs, and all of that. 

I know that my treatment will be radiotherapy, I just don’t know how many sessions yet as they were talking to me about having a shorter course of more intense dosages, or spreading it out over more sessions. This will be at another hospital, but I always knew that and I plan to get the train to these appointments – please no train strikes on those days! 

I will also be having hormone/endocrine therapy. Again, there are many different combinations and forms that this can take, so I will wait to see what my oncologist feels is the best course of action for me.  

This latter therapy will be for several years and it will suppress hormones in my body and put me into immediate menopause, and as I’m yet to have any perimenopause symptoms, I am expecting this to be a shock to the system. 

Both of these treatments do of course come with risks and the list of potential side effects both short and long term are long. I’m trying not to think too much about these and I’ll be doing whatever my doctors recommend to me to give me my best chance.

I am likely to be beginning my radiotherapy at some point during August, I’m not sure yet whether I will start the hormone therapy at the same time or afterwards, and that’s as much as I know right now. 

Or is it?

I know that I am feeling OK. I know that I am healing well from my surgery, growing stronger and fitter with every passing day.

I know that I am feeling well in myself, as I am back up to my usual walking levels, hitting 25-30 miles a week again and I have started daily yoga sessions that I am thoroughly enjoying. I am also making changes in my diet and nutrition and feeling healthy. 

I know that my friends are being lovely and supportive, I know that my family are right behind me and I know that my husband has been absolutely fantastic throughout all of this. 

And I know that my kids are coping well now. They see that I am OK, that I am getting stronger. They are relieved that I don’t need more surgery, that the tumour is out of me. They are looking forward to the little break we’ve managed to squeeze in before my appointments all start up again. 

It’s a positive update. Well, as positive an update as having breast cancer can actually be!

 

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