| DJ's Detour This is a bit of a diary-style glimpse into my experience of breast cancer. A lot of women refer to their experience as a ‘journey’. I’m sick of hearing that word ‘journey’ so I’ve called it ‘DJ’s ‘detour’. And it feels more like a detour to me – I like to think that my health just went off track temporarily. November 2005 - Something is not right I was tired. I've had glandular fever, ross river fever and chronic fever so I know about tired. I was tired. I couldn't seem to get fit despite exercising and being careful what I ate. I was starting to lose the plot. I was saying to my boss that I was not coping with the workload and that 'something wasn't right'. My breasts seemed to be getting in the way more than usual. They were uncomfortable and they hurt when I jogged. My usual low level dislike of them was progressing into hatred. I had a few occasions where my arms swelled up. My GP did not believe that my arm had swollen up and my Physiotherapist could see the swelling but only said that it shouldn't have been doing that. February 2006 - Burnout I do not know if this has anything to do with my cancer but it preceded it. It was more of a breakdown. I couldn't function. Even the most basic things were very challenging, like putting one foot in front of the other or forming a complete sentence. I improved with time but things like crossing a road or making a cup of tea were very confusing. I found that the only place I felt at ease and in control was swimming in the salt-water at Lake Conjola. So that's what I did! I've written a song called Burn Baby Burn. I quit that job and decided I would only work part-time. This meant we could not afford the mortgage and would have to sell our house. We planned to buy a bus, park it somewhere and live in it. Late April 2006 - Aching armpit I was offered and accepted a part-time job. My left armpit had been aching and I was taking antibiotics that had been prescribed by a locum GP. I started the job and my armpit continued to ache. I went to my usual GP and was prescribed another course of antibiotics. Then I went to another GP who prescribed more antibiotics and did a breast check. The lymph nodes in my armpit felt only slightly enlarged despite being very painful. He discovered a lump in the lower left quadrant of my ample E cup left breast. I had a mammogram and a biopsy of the breast lump. I requested a biopsy of the lymph nodes in the left armpit but they wouldn't do it. I knew I had cancer because the technicians were treating me very nicely. 25 May 2006 - Breast cancer confirmed The GP told me that I had breast cancer - ductal carcinoma. I wasn't shocked by the news, although if I had known what I was in for, I would have ran out of there screaming. Our house sale went through and my parents were not keen for us to live in a bus so we moved into their garage (which is lined and has a bathroom, and just enough space for my husband and I, and my son. I was referred to a surgeon. He said I should get a biopsy of the armpit lymph nodes. No kidding! So I did that. He informed me that the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes. This did not surprise me. He recommended a lumpectomy. I told him I wanted bi-lateral mastectomies. He very reluctantly agreed. 18 June 2006 - Happy Bye Bye Bosoms Party There was lots of friends there and my family. 2 round sponge cakes had been made, each with a cherry in the centre. Cutting into the cake with the big knife was pretty freaky. I've written a little poem to music 'Breasts of Burden' 19 June 2006 - Bi-lateral mastectomies operation According to my husband I was wide-eyed as they wheeled me off. A trainee doctor came and asked if she could watch the operation. The pain and sickness after the operation was horrible. I faired better when they stopped giving me that horrible morphine - I coped with the pain better than the morphein. For the next 9 months I sent regular emails to my friends, muso mates, family, work colleagues keeping them 'abreast' of my treatment and recovery. Click here to read a summary (although still lengthy) of those emails. |
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