My Journey with Breast Cancer so far
Being diagnosed in February was the biggest shock of my life. Not only had I never been sick in my life but I had never had any type of operation so it was all very surreal to me. I was in denial for a few days and was waiting for the diagnosis to be changed everytime I visited the specialist.
First surgery was a Lumpectomy with Sentinal Nodes removed for biopsy. Unfortunately there were the smallest bits of cancer in these nodes so further surgery was required which meant removing more nodes of the Lymphatic system under the armpit. Also the clearance [margin] of the tissue that they took out wasn't great on one side so they also went back into the same op site again to take a little more. Couldn't believe my luck. Stay positive they kept telling me but it seemed everytime I tried that I just kept getting knocked down.
All the cancer is now gone so I am taking that as a positive.
I was then sent to the oncologist for treatment plan and further diagnosis. Result is not quiet a true triple negative Breast Cancer but very close to it. I put all my faith in the oncologist and belief that they know what they are doing and will give me the best advice for me.
I have since had 4 doses of Chemo drug AC which I have tolerated really well. There was no nausea which was one of my main concerns. I felt that it would be harder to tolerate nausea than being tired. At least when you're tired you can just have a sleep but nausea is just something else. Most days I go to work as this helps me to feel normal and take my mind off all the things that are happening to me.
I began dose 1 of 12 of my weeekly Taxol chemo treatments last week. This didn't quite go to plan as I had a Hyper Sensitive reaction {common they tell me]but the nurses acted so quickly that there was no time to think about it too much. The Phenergan was given and also Clarantyne and half hour later we were up and running again with treatment. Now we will have these as pre meds before all the remainder Taxol treatments.
I am a little nervous about the tingling in the fingers and toes that may or may not happen but I guess I will have to wait and see if that happens to me and deal with it does.
During my own journey my mum decided along with my sisters that they should all go and have a check done. Sisters are both fine but will be checked annually. Mum unfortunately was diagnosed with a breast cancer and has since been operated on and further treatment is still being decided. At this stage it looks like 4 small doses of Chemo plus radiotherapy. The one thing I have learnt is a greater understanding of peoples emotions when being diagnosed. It is certainly life changing.
I have also learnt that I am a lot stronger on the inside than I first thought when this began. I know I can do this and I am doing it with the biggest hope of never having to go through this again.
