Survivorship

So I was scheduled for a meeting with the Assoc Prof Snyder of the oncology unit at St Vincent's. I wasn't exactly sure of why I was going, I assumed perhaps to check on any long term side effects maybe?

Anyway after filling in a long questionnaire I spent a couple of hours with the Professor. It seems that maybe I'm doing okay. I suspect it is mainly to assist those with little or no support and who can't get on with their lives....whether living in fear or can't get past it. He actually skipped whole pages of the questionnaire with me. Where I thought my side effects from the chemo and the chemopause were effecting my life, he said I'm doing very well and have come out of the treatment with little side effects!!!!!!!! Really!!!! I guess it's all relative, for a healthy person with very few ailments with my body to now getting out of bed or out of a chair with joints of an 80 year old is not really a concern for him.

So he did kindly tell me that I am a low risk for breast cancer - Shut the Front Door!!!!!!! I did wonder if I was talking to the right person for a minute or he had the wrong file in front of him....

With further discussion, I SHOULD have been low risk based on my profile. There is some concern that with girls developing as young as 9 these days means a longer period in their life with estrogen in their bodies. I was 16/17 before worrying about womanhood.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding give our bodies a break from the hormone and especially if it's before 35 - I was 35 and had 3 and breastfed for 6 months.

Also there is no cancer with my immediate relatives. But there is an online test somewhere that tells you this - I did it when I was diagnosed and lied to it saying I didn't have breast cancer and it told me I was a low risk.

Moving on I still have to decide whether to get my ovaries out. I'll be having my Zolidex - horse injection in a few weeks and start the aromatase inhibitor every day soon.

My surgery was booked for 24 June but my breast surgeon is still on maternity leave and can't do it until August. We were hoping to go to Disneyworld in September so that won't work. I'm 9 weeks out now and still having my hip drained of a seroma. So either I go with a different breast surgeon for June or I put it off until the end of the year - Nov/Dec. this is disappointing. We were hoping to have the major parts of it all over with and then go on our holiday. I'm trying to tell myself that this order would be better anyway - I can concentrate on getting healthy and fit for the holiday instead of the op in 6 weeks.

Here's my treatment plan art piece - only 1 more thing to do, not including the next 5-10 years of hormone treatment and possibly 3 years of injections.

I threw in a photo of my Mum and I for Mothers Day tribute and 40 odd years on and I realise I have the same hairstyle of new hair :)

I was also given a little circular pillow from Think Pink to sit on with my seroma, Andres decided it would be good for his teddy - so nicked it from me :) cute though...

Miss Jana and I were talking about how my Aunty just made 100 years old and how our friend, Heidi still has her grandmothers alive in their 90's - long living women. She said to me "well that's you too now Mum, now all that 'nonsense' is over with'. I chuckled to myself, yes it is Nonsense!! What a great word for it :)