Anyway, sleeve operation itself went well, had some difficulty with the pain meds they had me on so struggled with fluid intake for the first couple of days. We went to Esperance one week after surgery so hubby could go fishing with his dad and I ended up with a wicked infection in my main incision site that left me feeling like absolute crap for a couple of weeks. Struggled with (and continue to struggle) with food intake and having the right balance of foods.
So here we are 9 almost 10 weeks on and I've lost 18kg and I am pretty damn happy with that. It may be slower than I thought it would be but considering I have put stuff all effort into exercising these last 9 weeks it's good.
Back to the topic of todays post, I was in the shower 3 weeks (or there abouts) and washing the old lady lumps when I felt a bump in my bosom. Not remembering it ever being there I was slightly concerned but left it for a few days for the hubby to come home so he could inspect it (pretty sure he didn't mind that part) and then I would decide if it warranted going to the Dr.
He came home, he saw and he felt and we agreed that it was noticable and I should get it soon. I trundled off to the local female GP the following Monday (hubby comes home from site on Friday nights) after calling work to say I wasn't feeling too well which was true because this lump was really freaking me out. She did the old booby massage and told me I needed to go get a mammogram, ultrasound and FNA (Fine Needle Aspiration = biopsy). I called the radiological clinic and had to wait until Thursday the next week -so 10 days from Dr app- to get in. Again more time needed off work (I'm surprised my boss hadn't fired me by this stage after all the time off I have been asking for to go see my sleeve Dr as well).
All the tests were completed with the only incident being the ultrasound Dr found a second lump in my armpit and biopsied this as well. I walked out with needle stabs and $650 lighter; my jaw hit the floor when I was told what the bill was, I managed to get just over half back from Medicare but was still way more than what I was anticipating.
Now when the Dr finished taking the cells for the biopsy his nurse explained that the films from the mammogram would be ready in 2 days and that the cytology results would take at least 6 working days. I took this into consideration and figured I would just book in to see the GP for the results when we got back from Kalgoorlie and doing the Relay For Life which coincidentally is being dedicated to my sister who passed away from cancer at the start of the year.
Imagine my surprise when I got a call from the nurse at my Dr office on Monday (2 working days and 4 totals days since taking the tests) making an appointment to get my results the next day. This set alarm bells ringing because of what the radiological clinic nurse had told me. I was at work all day so I asked my hubby to go collect my film and see if there was a letter in there, he obliged and there was. He sent me extracts of the letter and through bumbling use of Google I was able to determine that there was a pretty high chance my tests came back positive for malignant cells.
I did a half day at work on Tuesday 6/11/2012 (a day which I will now never ever forget) and rocked up to the surgery with hubby in tow and just from the look on the Drs face when we walked into her consult room I knew what I had already suspected was the truth.
I have cancer.
A lot of what she said is now a blur and it's only been one day since we were told. I do remember the main thing and that was that she was forwarding all my reports and info to Royal Perth Hospital Breast Clinic and that I would have an appointment with them within 2 weeks and that my treatment would most likely be surgery to either remove the lumps or whole breast and possibly chemo, radiation or both after but all that is to be decided at the hospital.
Well the clinic called this morning and I am seeing the surgeon tomorrow afternoon and have to go in early in the morning to have some core biopsies taken.
Everything right now feels like a really bad dream that I'm not waking up from. Chris held it together well through all the appointment while I blubbered. The thing I am dreading most is telling my parents. They've already seen one daughter suffer through and die because of cancer and now I have to go and tell them that another one has to fight it. It just really doesn't seem fair but I am prepared to fight with everything I have and slay the beast that is hiding in my body.
my beautiful sister Kylie and I on my wedding day
14/11/09. She was in between bouts of cancer at this time
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