The results

The news is as feared. I do have breast cancer.

We were at the hospital for 4 hours yesterday. First I was given the results of the previous biopsy. It is cancer. It is a Grade 3 tumour, which is the most aggressive form. I will need an operation to remove it. However, they needed further tests to determine how far it has spread. There are several cysts in my breast that may also be cancerous. At the moment the lymph glands look good so hopefully the cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of my body. A few sentinel nodes will be removed during the operation & checked.

So after this news we then waited until I had another ultrasound, further biopsies taken (from the cysts this time), a piece of titanium inserted to mark the spot & another mammogram taken just to check the titanium marker was in the right spot.

Now I wait another week for the results. Hopefully by then we will know whether I will need just a small piece of my breast removed or the whole lot. I will also be given an appointment to meet the surgeon & his specialist nurse who will be available at all times to give me any practical information or just emotional support I need throughout the process. The op will probably take place in Kendal.

Meanwhile I’ve been given an enormous wodge of reading matter, most of which seems irrelevant until we know the sort of op I will need, & what further treatment – radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormonal, drugs – I may require after the op. Some of the info is just superfluous for me e.g. claiming benefits, as I already get as many benefits as I can because of my existing disability.

So now we wait, yet again. I’m grateful that we did have such a good holiday to set us up for the ordeal ahead.

I suppose I’ve lived most of my life with cancer lurking in the background. My gran, who lived with us at the time, died of throat cancer when I was about 7. My mother died of pancreatic cancer. Various uncles, aunts & cousins have all had cancer.

My mother knew cancer was common in our family & stressed on me from an early age, if ever there are tests for cancer in the future, take them. I’m glad I did. It was only by having a smear test that I discovered I had cervical cancer in 2000. I duly had a hysterectomy & have been clear ever since.

This time, I’ve only discovered the cancer due to taking up the offer of a mammogram. It’s not that I feel unwell. Hopefully this time, too, it’s been found early enough for my chances of survival to be good. We’ll see.