My journey to date
I was diagnosed with Early Breast cancer and had a Mastectomy just before Christmas 2009. I completed a round of IVF to preserve embryos in January, started Chemo in February and am due to start radio therapy in June. Our son was 14 months at the time of diagnosis and I was still breast feeding. I had no choice but to hand over a great deal of his care to others along with giving up work as a family day carer for the time being. I was also training with a swim squad and planning on competing in the open-water swims over summer. 4 weeks and 5 days after my Mastectomy I managed to swim in the Porstea 1.2 km swim and 1 1/2 weeks after that I swam in the Mt Martha Australia Day Swim. During the 1st 4 rounds of chemo I was able to mantain my training twice a week and carry out most of my day-to-day activities with friends and family cooking the bulk of our meals and cleaning the house. I even managed another open water swim at Bon Beach half-way through chemo. I am currently 5 chemo treatments down and 1 to go and things have really slowed down for me. I struggle to sleep at night due to the hot flushes which means I don't have my 'A-game' to deal with the challenges of our energetic toddler whose favourite word is no!!! I am staying at my mum and dad's which means that I can rest and Max is having a ball with his grandparents.
My diagnosis came when we were trying for our 2nd child. It was a major shock, firstly there was no history in the family, I was only 32 and I had had an ultra sound done in June and again a week before my diagnosis and they did not show any evidence of cancer. My 1st core biopsy was inconclusive and a repeat core bioposy finally confirmed what seemed impossible.
I have experienced all the emotions fear, sadness, alone, anger and determination. The more I have discovered about my condition, the more confident I feel that I will make a full recovery. I have learnt many things from my journey so far including asking for and accepting help, stressing less and enjoying life more and how valuable the love and support of friends and family is. My support Group Breast Intensions in Mornington has also been a conforting outlet where we can share stories, information and strength.
I am hoping to connect with young women with Breast Cancer through this website to discuss the concerns and issues that we commonly share.
