- I did it, I beat the beast inside me............
- chemo was tough but I was definitely tougher..........
- I HAD cancer, it didn't have me............
I walked into the cancer center that morning with a smile on my face, not only because it was my last chemotherapy treatment but because I was a "survivor". My husband surprised me with a beautiful poster that he made on his own, that I proudly brought me to the hospital that morning.
I have fought hard since that dreadful day December 30, 2015 when I heard the words that I had Breast Cancer. There were some very difficult decisions that I had to make, but for me they were the right ones, it was going to be a fight and I needed to brace myself for it.
This is my timeline:
November 22, 2015.......... I discovered a lump on my left breast
November 23, 2015.......... Went to see my GP and he scheduled Mammogram & Ultrasound
November 26, 2015.......... Mammo and ultrasound done
November 30, 2015...........Results show a mass and a biopsy to be done ASAP
December 9, 2015.............Breast Biopsy done......waited 3 weeks for results of the inevitable
December 30, 2015...........Stage 2, Grade1 invasive lobular carcinoma ( Breast Cancer)
In the next two weeks there were a battery of blood tests, scans, MRI, bone test, ultrasounds and another biopsy on the other breast.
Results - NON METASTATIC Breast Cancer.......Thank GOD, it did not spread beyond the lymph nodes
This is where the decisions had to be considered and made, let's just say I didn't have very long to decide, things had to start moving quickly.
January 20, 2016..........1st meeting with my oncologist, with complete pathology report of the biopsy
January 25, 2016..........decision made to have a dbl mastectomy with the breast surgeon
February 12, 2016.........lost both my breast to the beast living inside of me, hardest part of this journey
March 10, 2016.............met with the oncologist to decide chemo options
March 23, 2016 - May 4, 2016 ........1st protocol 3 chemo treatments = 1 every 3 weeks 😔
May 25, 2016 ...............2nd protocol 1 treatment = 3 x Taxol......hospitalized for 4 days😷
June 14, 2016...............oncologist decided a change was required and switch to Taxol weekly
June 21, 2016 - July 26, 2016 .......... Received 6 of the 9 Taxol treatments😔
July 25, 2016 ................ Declared officially CANCER FREE😀
It's been a very long and exhausting journey with so many tears and uncertainty, but the thing that kept me going was my husband and my daughter. I feared the worst but told myself that I am stronger, I cried and still do but then look in the mirror and tell myself, I can do this. This is a Journey that nobody every dreams of having to face, once faced with it you charge at it with full force.
I would love to say that it is over, but I am on a little break right now for 4 weeks. I will be doing about 4-5 weeks of daily radiation therapy starting in September. The beast inside me took a little trip into 3 of the 11 lymphnode that were removed, so this being said they will burn the hell out of my underarm area to be sure that it is all dead. That I will deal with when I get there.
So for now I will try to enjoy the next 4 weeks of break from treatment, I will need to heal from all the pain and water retention that I am presently having.
Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement and support throughout my journey.
Love you all
Franca
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