Let me take you back to May 2011 - I had given up a very stressful job and doing voluntary work. For a couple of weeks I had felt the occasional sharp stabbing pain in my left breast - but when I checked it out - found nothing to be concerned about. Then on this particular day in May - I felt the pain again. I reached to touch my breast and felt a hardness that I hadn't felt before. I raced home to check myself out in the mirror. When I lifted my arms I could see a dent below the nipple on my left breast. I rang the doctors and asked for an urgent appointment. I was referred to the local breast clinic and seen within 7 days. I was given an ultra sound after an examination - and remember the beeps as the surgeon printed off scan images, I also remember the looks that the breast care nurse kept giving me. His words will stay with me forever "99% certain that you have breast cancer - I am sorry" I told him it wasn't his fault. It was two days before a bank holiday weekend, I was booked in for a mammogram and a core biopsy. The results showed stage 3 invasive Lobular. What followed was 8 sessions of chemotherapy - radical mastectomy - 15 sessions of radiotherapy, delayed pediculed tram flap reconstruction (which had partial failure)
Why I thought my life was over? Cancer = death - right?? Not for me - Yes it was a big shock but I got through it all - yes my hair fell out, my nails dropped off, it was tough! but I got through it with help from the NHS and my family. Now my hair is longer than before, I appreciate every single day and started my own business which is doing okay! I don't fret about the small stuff that used to bother me. I love life and love being alive.
PRESTON, LANCASHIRE, United Kingdom
