The story til now 26/10/10

I was diagnosed with breast cancer early August 2010.

My mother is a survivor of breast cancer and this is the only family history I have.

I self diagnosed my lump which was sore and i was pretty sure it would be a cyst.  No time to waste though, I managed to get a doctors (intern)appointment in the morning and he seemed to think it was a cyst also.  Wasn't going to send me for a mammogram but I insisted especially with a family history.  The mammogram showed 2 lumps and a biopsy was done on the larger lump.  Tests came back positive.  One lump 11mm and the other 18mm.

I had my right breast removed and all nodes under my right arm on 25th August 2010.  This was fairly radical but I have a family history of Malignant Hyperpyrexia which is an allery to anaestheic (my father died from this) so I opted to have it all done at once so I didn't have to go back.

All nodes were clear therefor I will not need radiotherapy.  The tumors were grade 1 and only fed by hormones.

I am having FEC chemo every 3 weeks for a total of 6 treatments.  My side effects have been like clockwork.  My hair fell out 2 weeks after my first chemo. ( I shaved it before it got to that stage)  The first 3 days after chemo I am feeling fine because of the Emend tablets they give me.  The rest of that week I am incredibly tired and sleep on and off all day. Day 7 I'm pretty much over the whole sleeping through the day and my tongue gets quite sensetive. Like I've sucked on too many fizzy lollies and it's taken a layer off.  My taste for coffee (which I LOVE) goes.  The metalic taste kicks in, but coffee is the only this it effects with me. Week 3 and my tongue is back to normal and coffee is on the menu again.  This week is just a normal week for me.  I do not get nausea or other side effects thankfully.

Thursday I will go for treatment 5 of 6 and I 'm really looking forward to finishing chemo.

I travel 500km for chemo but usually fly in and out on the same day which doesn't upset the family life much.

Life at  home has not changed much.  I am around alot more because I haven't been working since my mastectomy.  This has been a good thing although it was hard to get use to at first.  I do have the option of working from home, but it just upsets my income protection insurance so I choose not to.  My GP didn't want me back in the workplace with lowered immunity.

I've managed to paint a few rooms at home and my husband and I have taken on roles within the local tennis club. I didn't have time before.

I have resumed playing tennis with our first match last week.  My only limitation is an extended reach.  My skin just isn't ready to stretch that far yet!