Stuff.....

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Go get a mammogram. It's worth it .

Made with a design by Jenny of Elefantz for Breast Cancer Awareness

As someone who has had cancer twice...uterine and breast.... I am more than aware that you should get a mammogram at least once a year. In my case twice a year.  

So far no issues in years.....:)

I didn't get tested last year because of Covid but I did finally get a call on August 19th this year to go to a new clinic that they had just opened. In a very weird building. Like a huge factory and absolutely no one about. Kinda spooky. I had my test and went home.

Then I waited. And waited. Covid has delayed a lot of things I guess. Then I got a call to go into the breast clinic at the hospital on September 14th......oh oh. The last time I was there it meant surgery. So with a bit of trepidation I went. 

I was there for three hours. After three mammograms...ouch.... and an ultrasound they sent me home. Usually you get a to see a doctor to give you the results but not this time?

And....I waited to hear the outcome. Nothing. No calls. No letter. I finally had to call my family doctor to get the results. Because he isn't seeing patients in person I had to make a "telephone" appointment for the next week. More waiting.

My poor doctor was upset. He didn't realize that I hadn't heard anything back from the clinic.

So the outcome...two months later....is that I have a benign cyst. The reason for the multiple tests was because they just couldn't get a good enough picture.  The wait was because everyone/someone assumed I had my results.

I feel like I've been holding my breath. Needless to say the stress on me and my family wasn't fair but Covid has changed a lot of how things are dealt with these days I guess. The hospitals are dealing with bigger issues. I know I should have called earlier but the system has always worked in the past and I waited. It took a month to get back to me with my first test results right? No news is good news maybe?

I get to go back in February...lucky me :)

Take care and keep safe.

 

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

I heard my results from my doctor today with regard to my second surgery. The cancer hasn't spread to my lymph nodes....thank goodness.

I will have to have some kind of followup treatment along with the radiation but that's okay. I will be monitored on an ongoing basis regarding when to get future mammograms and so on which is fine by me.

Thank you everyone who sent words of support. You are the best.

Now to  get on with stuff. I feel like I've been holding my breath. It's been a dreadful time waiting to hear. 

Take care:)

News........

So my news last week wasn't as good as I expected but it wasn't as bad as it might have been. I have what is known as DCIS.

Explanation of DCIS.

My cancer is "in situ" again rather than invasive. 

I was back in the hospital today for more out patient surgery. More poking about and a look at my lymph node thingies.

They injected me with fluid containing radiation to do some tracking. I was quite disappointed to find out that I wouldn't glow in the dark. They then took pictures of my breast with a huge camera that was similiar to an MRI. They lowered it down until it almost touched my nose. I won't say I'm claustrophobic...okay maybe a wee bit... but I was definitely getting uncomfortable after about 10 minutes of that.

I will be having further radiation treatment for five weeks so the glowing bit might come true yet....LOL

I am totally zonked. I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the hospital for 7 a.m. I only live about 20 minutes away but it takes that long to jump start me in the mornings. I'm definitely not a morning person and with no coffee to help out...eeek.

I'm trying to stay awake right now so I'll sleep through the night. Otherwise it'll be me staring at the ceiling at 3:00 am. 

The saga continues I guess. No worries.

Take care :)

Hello I'm still here with a long story and a happy ending...hopefully:)

I don't normally post about personal stuff because it isn't really my thing but something a family member just said to me and her reaction made me think.

Last July for various and sundry reasons I had a hysterectomy and my ovaries removed....not to worry all is well. While it was first stage cancer it was insitu as they say.

Sadly my own family doctor passed away very suddenly within days of my surgery so I was left high and dry. Now I had to look for a new family doctor which is not really that fun to do.

I had no real immediate health issues but I do have medication that I need to take. I figured since I had a few months worth left finding a doctor wasn't such a pressing issue.

Then...horror of horrors. Within a few months of my hysterectomy surgery some lumps I had in my right breast seemed to be getting bigger. I've had these lumps for quite a few years and I had never done anything about them. What's that word?.....oh ya...... procrastination...or it can't happen to me syndrome. I was beginning to think that maybe I was loosing it and that I was imagining that they were getting rather large....eeek.

Now the issue to get a new doctor was pressing...I did... and he's very thorough...sent me for tons of tests..... and of course he sent me for a mammogram.

Lucky me. My imagination wasn't playing games with my head. I had two lumps. I was called back for an ultra sound. They were still there :)

I was then sent to the Breast Cancer Clinic at North York General Hospital for referral. Yet another ultra sound.  I then met with this very young...to me anyway LOL.... General Surgeon and Oncologist to give me his opinion.

He wanted to do a needle biopsy and because I was his last patient for the day he decided to do the procedure then and there rather that have me come back again. I was given a needle injection for local pain. I was told the freezing would last for ten minutes and that I might have some pain from the procedure.

The needle biopsy was probably the strangest test I have ever had done. The sound and sensation was a bit off putting. Think about someone banging down on the back of a stapler to make it work....Jeez Louise.  The doctor was impressed at my calmness but I figure why freak out when it's something that has to be done.

I might add that despite the fact that they said there would be pain it was nothing. I had an ice bag and it only hurt for about five or ten minutes. The bruise though was gigantic and very very colourful,

So my results came back and I had what is known as Atypical Papillary Lesions. Not so bad. They could stay as they weren't cancerous. But.... he wanted to take them out and of course do a second more thorough biopsy.

So yesterday I went into hospital at 7:00 a.m. and after sitting around for what seemed like endless hours I had a Lumpectomy and finally after 2 1/2 hours of recovery arrived home about 5:15 totally shattered.

The aftermath has been relativity painless. I took an extra strength Tylenol before bed and today nothing.  The only lasting annoyance is a sore throat from the breathing tube they insert during surgery.

So the bottom line of this very long recitation is the moral of the story I guess.

I will never put off until tomorrow what I should do today regarding my health or something along those lines. I'm sure I'll think of something more pithy but whatever.

My whole attitude was rather stupid. I'm relatively healthy for my age and I figured nothing serious would happen to me regarding the big C. Well that was wrong.

Be proactive about your own health care. Go and get a Pap Smear done and, go and get a Mammogram done. 

I've had some near misses and have been very lucky. So now I wait to see what the final biopsy will find. Fingers and toes crossed.

Take care:)