Making The Breast Of It

That's so funny, Mona, talk about opening your mouth to change feet!

Thanks for your comment!

There's been a few funny times: just last appt my oncologist asked me how I was and I said "good ...for someone who has an oncologist!

i had a lumpectomy and radiation. But six months later I was feeling a bit glamorous in a low fitted top and 'done hair' and I met someone I hadn't seen for a few years but who had heard about 'my health' 'oh yes I've had breast cancer! I said and she looked at my chest and said 'so you had a double mascetomy?'  No, in fact I said 'you wouldn't even see the scar! I said rather proudly. She said 'oh I geuss you were always a bit small...so you lost all your hair with chemotherapy and that's a wig?'  Er no...no chemotherapy and no that's my own hair!   It's hard to be inspirational !

breast wishes, 

Thanks Summer, I have already got quite a few uplifting stories and am so inspired by the ladies I've spoken to so far. 

I think sometimes it surprises the doctors when their patient cracks jokes. I cracked a few jokes with my surgeon - I felt some sort of weird sense of responsibility towards him that I had to let him know I was okay. 

Hi Mira

That's funny about the limp nose - and the wrong breast. It's good to hear you're using humour as a way of coping - it helps us keep our sanity, I think and affirms I'm on the right path with my book. 

HI Leanne

Thanks for your good wishes and I'm glad that you are managing to keep your sense of humour, as I imagine having chemo is not very funny most of the time. Sometimes it's necessary to do the crying but I really think we need the laughing as well.

All the best for the rest of your treatment.

Hello Robin

Congratulations on the idea of your book - I hope it goes well for you.

I have found a lot of ladies like to dwell on their problems and groups feed off each other's miseries so your focus is great.

Humour is the best medicine - well, at least it helps along the way.

At times I think my surgeon thought I was quite mad but he did see my sense of humour and laughed with me.

Good luck, hope you get lots of great uplifting stories of humour from a dark place.

Regards

Summer  :-)

Hi,

When I was in active treatment I was keeping some people informed via short funny stories.  I don't want to put them public but using humour really helped us all deal with it.  As serious as it was I had a lot of laughs during my treatment.

Probably the funniest bit for me was on the day of the operation.  I was so thirsty by the time they got around to my operation that when the surgeon was asking what I was having done I couldn't form the words "lymph nodes" and kept telling her I was having my limp nose cut out.  Thank goodness she knew what she was doing!  I also pointed to the wrong breast!  Ooops.

cheers

Mira

Hi Robyn, I haven't had many side effects from chemo that I will be having for 12 weeks. My hair is starting to fall out after 4th treatment. When told that there was a high possibility that I would lose my hair I was upset, now I have hair falling out, its on the floor, on my pillow each morning, even  in my food at times. I now tell my family that if I get lost unlike Hansel & Gretel dropping the bread to find their way back home I will be able to follow my trail of hair  as long as the birds don't use it to make a nest. I have got chemo brain already, Hubby now accepts the crazy things I do and say by laughing and saying the next few months are going to be interesting.(

I have found that I need to make light of my BC journey even though I know how serious it is otherwise I would spend a lot of time crying and feeling depressed.

I hope your book goes well for you

Leanne

I'm sorry if I have offended you, Kerr Kerr, that certainly wasn't my intention. As I said in my blog post, by writing this book I am not in any way making light of the trauma that many people go through and I will also emphasize that in my book. Humour is only one aspect of it - I am also writing about positive and uplifting experiences that people have had - and I think it is good for our mental health to consider these - at least I have found it so for me and so have all the ladies I have talked to so far.

I realise that you may not be in that situation and my thoughts are with you. 

Thanks for your comments Gillian - you have certainly been through the mill. I am really enjoying putting the book together and am so inspired by the ladies I have talked to so far. 

Am I able to use your comments in my book? I'll just refer to you by your first name - if you don't want me to, that's fine also, I'll respect your decision.