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My name is Jayne Dalgliesh,i am 36 and live in the UK.
I was diagnosed in december 1999,i was 34 at the time.
Some months earlier I had found a lump in my left breast, I used to examine myself on a regular basis, due to the fact, I lost an aunt to breast cancer, although I am the only girl in my family that does this.
I went to see my GP, and was going to tell him about the lump, but on the first visit I forgot, (I was being treated for depression at the time).So I made another appointment a week later, and for the second time I forgot to tell him about the lump. My boyfriend told me to make another appointment, but this time, write it on my hand. Good job I did. He examined me, and said there was defiantly something there. He said he would make me an appointment for the hospital breast clinic. A week later the appointment for the hospital came through (which was very quick for the British NHS - National Health Service).
There were lots of women waiting to see the doctor at the breast clinic; I had to wait almost 2 hours to see him. He examined the breast and said, it feels like fiberous tissue, and it was nothing to worry about, but he would do a needle biopsy just to make sure. When he put the needle in the said straight away "this is just what we call a fiberadanoma, totally harmless tissue, and nothing at all to worry about". I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. He said he could leave it, and I was to keep an eye on it, or he could remove it, I chose the easy option (leave it alone). He thought for a few minutes, and said, he feels better removing it - so a date for surgery was set for Feb 2000. I went home feeling very relieved about it.
Two days later a letter came from the hospital saying, "could I please go back to the hospital for more tests".
I went back 2 days later thinking they had lost my biopsy tissue, but this new test was for a mammogram (and how pleasant was that). Don't get me wrong it wasn't that painful, just not a nice thing to do to your breasts. The nurse told me I had to go back the next day for the results (the day I was supposed to be at college), and it was important that I did go back, by this time I was getting worried.
I took my youngest son with me to get my results, he was usually in the college nursery, but they didn't like you leaving them there if you left the college grounds Luke was 4 at the time. I had to wait in this tiny room, it was crammed with women, all much older than me, so I thought, why the hell am I here, I am only 34, i cant have cancer. Hours went by, a nurse came in and said the surgeon was stuck in surgery, and would do his best to see us as soon as he could. 4 nail biting hours later my name was called. My son and I were taken in a room, 2 people were in there, and the surgeon and a breast care nurse. He looked straight into my eyes, and said "we have found something nasty", I just looked at his face, I didn't cry, then he repeated what he had said, and asked if I knew what he meant by "nasty", then I cried, I felt a huge rush all through my body, I knew what he meant, that I had cancer. I looked down at my son, and all I could think is
" I'm going to die", I cried so hard I thought my eyes would pop out. Surgery was booked for the following week. I left the hospital in a total daze. They had given me some information, but my mind was a blank, I never heard another word after I heard the word cancer.
For that whole week I cried a river of tears, I was so scared of dying and leaving my 3 kids behind, my kids are my life, I had brought them here, and now I was going to be taken from them (that was hard to swallow).
After surgery, I had 7 months of chemotherapy and 16 doses of radiation. I have to say I found chemo hard to handle.
I did manage to complete my college course and gain my A levels (18 years late I know), I also won student of the year. I proved to myself, family and friends that cancer does not have to be the end, for me it was a new beginning, I survived, and I feel after having cancer, it made me a stronger and a better person.
There is a moral here ladies and gents "EARLY DIAGNOSES SAVES LIVES", always get lumps checked out, don't feel embarrassed, it could save your life someday, I know it saved mine.........................AMEN.........................