Margins Clear!

I am so happy! The doc said that my margins from the latest operation are clear of cancer cells! Hooray! That means no more surgery and I can move onto the next stage of my treatment. I was really dreading bad news when I was going in there, but what wonderful news instead! Phew. Thank you Father for you are a good and gracious God! I have an appointment with the radiotherapy dept in mid Sept to plan my radiotherapy treatment so this blog may become a big sparse till then. I was hoping to update everyone with how I have been spending my days, but I haven't settled into a routine yet as one-off events keep popping up (my parents' business sale and the additional op). But my days are beginning to settle down. I recently wrote down a list of things I should be focusing on, and these were bible study, improving my fitness, chinese studies, improving my cooking and learning creative writing. This sounds like a lot, but it's not. I'm not intending to do all of these every day, but one or two but having a list is good so I am not aimless. 

I have been doing my chinese homework in preparation for the new academic year and I've also ordered some cookery books. I've also been on a creative writing workshop which was very fun, and I've just bought a new bike so I am making progress with my goals. I am very excited about my new bike arriving as I am a very active person and have despaired that I have been unable to work out much this year (understandably). So I am looking forward to getting back out into the open air and letting off some steam!

Thank God for today's outcome. I feel like I have been told that I can pass!

Results of surgery appointment

Whoops. Forgot to let you all know that I will be seeing my breast care doctor today to get the results of the operation. Some of you will read/get this too late, but if in it time please pray that they got all the tissue with the cancer cells and I can proceed with the radiotherapy. My appointment is at 2:45pm.

Doing well

Mum and dad picked me from hospital yesterday and we spent much of the morning in B&Q! They wanted to buy stuff and I wanted to stretch my legs. I am not feeling any pain now as I am taking painkillers. I took a nap in the afternoon and had a relaxing dinner with my parents. 

Recovering

I am out, have had my dinner, watched a bit of TV and am about to go to bed. I have a little bit of pain but it's tolerable. The operation was quicker this time with me in the theatre for half an hour. Mum waited for me the whole time and is back home now. She and my dad will pick me up tomorrow morning when they discharge me. 

I have my own room with TV and own bathroom! 

Second Time Lucky

I am in the waiting room of the private hospital about to check in. I ran into a friend of a friend on Sunday who is a surgeon and her last rotation was as a breast surgeon. She said that my operation was very common and not risky at all, which really reassured me. I am just praying that they get the last of the cancer cells this time and I can move on with my treatment. My operation is sometime between 6pm - 9pm (GMT), please pray that it is successful!

Good Progress

My eyelid check up went well. The doc was pleased with my progress. He told me to finish the course of antibiotics, keep my eyelids clean and to not wear contact lenses until things have settled down. Good, good, good. I just wish my eyelashes would hurry up and grow back. I miss them. I can really tell the difference now that I don't have many of them left. I am more susceptible to dirt and things going into my eyes.

My breast care doctor also rang to tell me that my surgery is next Tuesday (19th). It'll be at a private hospital this time as he couldn't find a surgery space at a NHS hospital for me for the next month. And I need it soon for the radiotherapy to progress. The surgery will be in the evening so I will need to stay overnight. He was keen to emphasise that they wouldn't be taking very much from me. Good, there's not much of me to take.

Here I am looking very healthy with my brother, enjoying the Bristol Balloon Fiesta:

Not as bad as I thought

Saw the doc today. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Best practise is that they normally like to have 2mm of healthy tissue around the tumour when it is cut out. They only got 1mm from me on the one side of the tumour, so they are going to take 1mm more from that side. It's a bit technical because it's not just about getting a healthy margin around the tumour, it is also because they found dormant cancer cells on that side which could grow. He doesn't know when the surgery will be yet and will notify me when he has scheduled it, but it will be soon.

Over the weekend when I had given it more thought, I had guessed that it wasn't going to be a mastectomy as you can't suddenly go from a 12mm lumpectomy to a complete mastectomy. I was very relieved for them to confirm this.

Eyelid check up tomorrow. The medical stuff just never ends!

Follow this blog by email

As you know, I want you my friend to follow my journey with cancer because I believe that you love and care for me, and because I value your support and prayers. And to make it easier for you to follow this blog, I wanted to point out that you can follow it by email instead of having to go to this blog every so often. There is a 'Follow by Email' box on the right hand side of the Home page where you can submit your email address. Thereafter whenever I write a new post onto this blog, you will be sent it automatically. Voila! So no more checking when I haven't posted or missing lots of posts whenever lots has happened.

But don't forget to keep leaving your encouragement in the comments box on the actual blog now and again so I know you guys are still with me!

A gold star for you clever people who are using this function already!

More surgery needed

The test from the lab came back saying that not all of my cancerous cells were cut out. They found cancerous cells in the margin around the tumour. Which means that I will need to go back for more surgery. I am really fed up of this now. I just want it to be over. My breast care nurse was not able to tell me how much more they would take so I got upset when she implied that it might be my whole breast. Medical staff really should stop implying things like that when they don't know. It scares people. Unfortunately by the time of my appointment, she hadn't been able to get hold of my doctor and my results had been received today. I have to go back to see him on Monday.

My general feeling is that I am feeling delicate - emotionally, mentally and psychologically. It's been such an upheaval to deal with what each stage of treatment brings; accepting that I may become infertile with chemo, psyching myself up for and dealing with the side effects of the chemo, undergoing surgery for various things as well as managing work and trying to still have a normal life.

The best thing about today was that our shop exchanged and completed this morning. Hooray! My parents are at last retired and can take it easy. Even though we were scheduled to complete today, I expected it to be delayed. So I was pleasantly surprised when it was all completed by midday this morning.

I also went out with a some friends to see 'Singing in the Rain' at the Hippodrome this evening, which was perfect. It took my mind of my bad news. It was a good distraction. It'll be alright. This is just a setback. Just need to wait till Monday to find out what the situation is.

In the meantime I will look forward to going to the the Balloon Fiesta tomorrow with my entire family. 

Very good very good

I am doing very well indeed. I have had very little pain and just feel very normal really. But I am just very careful not to pick up heavy objects. 

Since the beginning of my sick leave, I have been watching the Commonwealth Games, which have been brilliant for the home nations. Also this week my parents have been preparing to move out of the takeaway business that they have ran for 31 years as they have sold it on. It's been a very busy and mad time, as my parents haven't realised just how much stuff they have (most people don't), and it wasn't till we started packing (5 days before we are supposed to vacate the place) that the reality dawned on them. I haven't really been able to partake in the packing and moving due to my operation so I have been looking after my brother's children so he and my sister-in-law could help. And we drafted in friends to also help us, and one of them told me in amazement how she had moved three hi-fi systems into the garage! My brother and I view my parents like a very broad supermarket as they normally have anything that we ever need for our lives. We have learnt not to buy anything until we have asked them first, because 9.5 times out of 10 they have it. They even had a spare bread machine when I asked them! Part of their excuse is that they both come from poor backgrounds so they don't like throwing things away, and like to accumulate as they never want to run out. This mentality has made them into mild hoarders!

I have a hospital visit this Thursday to get the results from my surgery, and also to discuss dates for my upcoming radiotherapy treatment.