Breast Cancer Awareness
Hi, I'm Dionne. I'm 32, and I'm
"living with" secondary breast cancer.
On 8th July 2005, I was diagnosed
with Breast Cancer, at 29 years old.
There is no history of breast cancer
in my family
When I found the lump in my breast, I
made an appointment with my GP, straight away.
It was a week before I could get an appointment,
but I wasn't too worried at this point. I knew 9 out of 10 breast lumps were 'nothing to worry about'.
I saw my GP, who felt the lump, and referred
me to the breast clinic.
When I attended the clinic, I had an
ultrasound scan, which found the lump, but they couldn't tell just by looking at it, whether it was anything to worry about
or not. So I then had two core biopsies, to enable a sample of the lump to be tested.
After a week worrying, and waiting
for results, I was called into the consulting room.
I remember the doctor saying "You know
we couldn't tell by looking at your lump, or by feeling it, if it was harmless or not. I'm afraid it is cancerous."
I felt like the floor was going to swallow
me up, and the room was spinning. I didn't know how I was supposed to react to this news, and I just said "Right.
Ok."
I was told I'd need surgery to remove
the lump.
Because it was quite small (18mm) I
was given the option of a mastectomy, or a wide local excision (lumpectomy).
I had to make my decision there and then,
and I chose lumpectomy.
I was also told I'd have to
have a sample of lymph nodes removed, to check to see if the cancer had spread to my lymphatic system.
I had surgery to remove the tumour in
July 2005, which showed it was a very aggressive cancer (grade 3) which had got into my blood stream. But lymph
nodes were unaffected.
From September to December 2005,
I underwent a course of FEC chemotherapy, during which I lost all my hair.
This was followed by 30 sessions of Radiotherapy
treatment.
I then started having Herceptin (every
three weeks, by IV drip, like chemo's given), because the cancer was HER2+++, which took my chances of being alive and disease
free in 5 years, up to around 75-80%.
I had received 10 (out of 18) when
the latest bomb dropped..
In November 2006, I was diagnosed with
secondary (stage 4) breast cancer in my liver.
Two masses.. one measuring 9.4cm, and
one measuring 2.3cm.
I had a course of Taxotere/Docetaxel
chemo, which shrank the liver masses to not be visible on an ultrasound scan.
In October 2007, I found out that the cancer had spread to my brain.
30-50% of HER2+ people, who're on Herceptin, get brain secondaries.
I'm one of them.
I had surgery to remove a 3cm tumour from my cerebellum, followed
by whole brain radiation.
My doctor told me at this point, that median survival times give
me around 6-9 months to live.
The cancer has now also spread to my lungs and bones.
The latest liver scan shows quite alot of progression in that
area too (largest mass 6cm, on CT scan. Along with lots of smaller tumours).
I'm currently having capecitabine/Xeloda
chemo, in the hope that it will control the disease for a while.
I'm very realistic about all of this,
and know I may not have too long left. But I also hope that I can feel as well as possible, for as long as possible.
This can happen to anyone, at any age.
I never thought it would happen to me, but it has.
If you don't know how to check yourself, please
visit :
If you're still not sure, ask your doctor
or nurse to show you how to examine yourself. They wont think you're wasting their time, and they'll be more than
happy to help.
I've written this to remind you
all to please check yourselves regularly and to be aware.
We all think things like this will never happen to us. But
they can, and they do.
This can happen to anyone at any age,
and the earlier you catch it, the better chance you have of beating it.
