What a year
Hello, it has been I while since I have posted, it has been a very interesting year. In July last year I was diagnosed with with two primary tumours an ER+ early breast CA and Stage 4 Ovarian cancer. I had 8 weeks of weekly chemo sessions of paclitaxol and carboplatin And then in Oct 2012 I had a hysterectomy, salipingo oophorectomy, omentectomy and debulking surgery . The tumours had already shown an excellent response to the chemo.
I recovered well from the surgery and continued weekly chemo treatments for a total of 6 months. Towards the end I was very tired and in total required 5 red blood cell tranfusions. In February this year scans and mammograms showed that there was nothing remaining of the tumours.
From the time of my diagnosis I understood the prognosis for stage 4 ovarian CA isn't great. Statistically it only has a 15% 5 year survival rate, but on the positive side I had a better than average response from the chemo.
I also had a mammogram in May and a discussion with my breast surgeon, the small tumour had disappeared with the chemo and we decided to not proceed with any surgery, given that I was still recovering from chemo. Sheand I were both happy to review in 6 months With another mammogram.
During this time was was also found to have a BRCA 1 mutation, as does my Mother, who had an early breast CA treated by mastectomy at aged 42. My sister also has the mutation and she has been diagnosed with melanoma.I had not realized that two of my great Aunts had had breast CA fairly young.
Thankfully my eldest daughter (20) does not carry the mutation. My youngest daughter is only 9 and cannot be tested until she is 16. The relief I felt when I found out she didn't have it was indescribable. My sister has just had a hysterectomy as a prophylactic measure.
Given the good news about my daughter , my husband and I decided to book a well deserved holiday overseas. One night I emailed the travel agent our wish list. Then very next morning I jumped in the shower and found a very large lump in my left breast. I knew straight away it wasn't going to be good news.
Back to to surgeon, mammogram, biopsies and as I carry the mutation I elected to have a bilateral mastectomy, which was done in October. The good news was that my nodes were negative, the not so good news is that it is grade 3 aggressive, triple negative CA. I now am having 4 cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, every third week which is a walk in the park compared to weekly! I am also trying the cold caps in an effort to keep my hair.
The breast cancer reoccurence was not expected, everyone was prepared for the nasty Ovarian CA to rear its head again, but this was not expected. They think it's part of the original one, that had unstable DNA .The chemo and the Letrazole I take knocked off the ER+ part but the DNA changed to a more aggressive triple negative CA.
So now, like many of you lovely ladies I am coping with scarring, both physical and emotional of this disease. Today I am getting fitted with my nice new silicone prosthesis which will be nice.
I just want to get through to the end of chemo and get a bit of time to do a bit of travelling and to try to stay well as I can for as long as I can.
