At the beginning of May I celebrated my birthday and I have reached the grand old age of 54!! Another birthday reached and to be celebrated.
I am so lucky. So many don’t get here.
My eldest’s Lara’s birthday was the day after mine and she is now in her last year of her 20’s! I cannot believe she is nearly 30! And the day after that would have been my mummy’s 82nd birthday and it was her 3rd heavenly birthday.
The icing on the cake is that my youngest, Amy, got married on Sunday 19th to her soulmate and best friend Adam. It was the most perfect day, the sun shone, and the love and happiness flowed out over everyone. And not forgetting my sister coming over from Cyprus for the occasion!! Bloody hell! What a couple of weeks! There are so many mixed emotions. Joy, happiness, excitement, yet tinges of sadness, anxiety, uncertainty.
I got my PET scan results last Wednesday and there’s no sign of any cancer in my liver or lungs. This is just incredible and I am so relieved. But – there is a but this time! The scan has shown something in my brain near one of the previously treated sites. The results are not definitive from the PET scan,
it could be scarring, odema, necrosis, or progression (another tumour). I have had my MRI scan, which will give us a clearer picture, and I will get my results next week.
I am a wee bit worried especially if it is necrosis. Necrosis is tissue dying due to lack of blood flow. I know what it is, and I know once its there, it can spread, so don’t Dr Google!! I always say this to people, and what the first thing I check?! – Dr Google for those statistics!!
Necrosis around the treated tumour can happen. This shows the tumour is dying. However, healthy cells dying is not good, and it can spread. Life expectancy is not good if this happens, and this is the part I wish I hadn’t read!!
But I also read that it’s not always bad, there can be treatment, and everything depends on the individual.
I have been so lucky. In July, I have had secondary breast cancer for five years. A place that – (statistic alert again!) 29% of people reach. I don’t have that gut fear of doom and gloom and will continue to fight no matter what, but it’s the fear of the unknown – as long as whatever it is, is treatable I will cope with it. And now I wait…
My Journey with Breast Cancer 