The Journey Begins….

Discovery – January 12th 2019

I have found a lump….. a small pea size lump!

It’s definitely there. I am not imagining it.

I check myself on a regular basis, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week.  If I’m honest though, I don’t know exactly what I am looking for. Am I expecting something big, something obvious, something hard? Who knows!? This though is definitely a lump.

As it’s a Saturday and just before I’m due to go out with family for a meal in the evening, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have to try and push it aside, enjoy the evening and make an appointment to see the doctor on Monday.

…..I tell no-one, not even my husband. He’s a worrier and what’s the point in saying something if it might not be anything? I don’t believe in wasting energy worrying over things I have no control over or things that might never be! I guess I’m lucky that I have this belief and attitude. I know not everyone is the same.

The start of many appointments – January 14th 2019
It’s a Monday morning and I’m at work. I absolutely love work. I know it may seem sad but I always have…. who thought accountancy could be so much fun? I say accountancy as I’m not actually doing accountancy at the moment – I’m doing finance transformation and I’m working for myself. I love it. I absolutely love it.

I phone the doctors and manage to get an appointment for 3.30pm – wow….. that never happens!

The doctor examines me but she can’t feel anything. I have to point out the lump to her as it feels quite “deep”. She then acknowledges that she could feel it too. In hindsight, the fact that the doctor couldn’t feel anything is actually quite scary. I could quite easily have believed her when she said she couldn’t feel anything and decided that everything was OK but I definitely knew there was something there. Ladies, if you’re sure, say so!

I mention that I have private healthcare and that I’ll see if I can get further tests sooner than the NHS 2 week path. 

I want to know as soon as I can as I’m supposed to be going on a holiday of a lifetime to Hong Kong and New Zealand in 3 weeks (you may have seen the start of my blog on my other blog site). It’s a 50th birthday (mine and my husband’s) and 1 year wedding anniversary/belated honeymoon celebration.

I arrive home early and tell my husband Tim that I’d finished work early (naughty I know but it could be nothing. He’d only worry). I never keep anything from him but in these circumstances, some things are best left unsaid.

There’s a ‘One-stop’ for everything – January 15th 2019

Now that I knew that there is a lump, I need to get it checked out.

I phone the private health provider and they advised that I book an appointment to get checked out. 

I then phone a couple of hospitals who were actually fairly useless – one of them may as well have sent me to Timbuktu and back as it seemed no-one really knew which department I needed.

I eventually got through to someone who was more than helpful although she was unable to make an appointment for me because their mammographer was off sick and she didn’t know when she would be back in. She did say that she knew the hospital in Macclesfield had had appointments for the “One-stop breast clinic” the previous day even though it was a different hospital trust. She kindly gave me the number.

I phoned up and they indeed had appointments…. one for the following day at 5.00pm. This one-stop shop would cover all tests in one go – mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. Brilliant! No long wait time and I’d soon know one way or the other.

Tests Galore – January 16th 2019
I’d not told Tim that I was having these tests and was hoping that I’d be home at a reasonable time especially as it was yoga night….. unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

I first met the consultant. He examined me and yet again, I had to point out the lump. He also concentrated on a different area which was worrying as I hadn’t even felt anything here. He then marked the two areas.

I then went on to have my mammogram. I’d not long hit 50 so I hadn’t had a mammogram before but it was not as bad as I had expected or as people had said. It wasn’t even uncomfortable. The mammographer said that “something” was there but it was small and could easily have been missed. 

I was then sent to the waiting room before being called for an ultrasound and a biopsy. 

It’s weird, getting my boobs out to all and sundry didn’t feel at all uncomfortable or embarrassing. After all, this is their job and they do it all the time. I think also that I’d maybe already resigned myself to the fact that my right boob was no longer part of my body?!

The biopsy wasn’t too bad – the sound of the needle going in and extracting the tissue was more disconcerting than the actual needle going in as the area had been anaesthetised. I felt a pushing and pulling sensation but it wasn’t painful. Several markers were also inserted so that any future tests would show where the biopsies had been taken.

I was in a lot longer than I had expected as I was moved from one test to another. As I waited for the next test, I could hear my phone ringing and I knew that it would be Tim. I ignored it.

After about 90 minutes of tests, I left the hospital. My drive home is over the hills in the Peak District so this means that I often lose reception on my phone – Tim wouldn’t be able to get through. I was hoping that I’d make it all the way home without him suspecting but as I pulled up at a set of traffic lights where there was reception, he phoned. I couldn’t really hide or lie about where I’d been so I told him that I’d been having tests for a lump. It wasn’t the best way to tell him but I unfortunately didn’t have any other option.

I told him everything when I got home – it was obviously a shock and I’m not entirely sure he digested it all.

Back to Top
1 - The Journey Begins (you're on this page) 
2 - Diagnosis click here 
3 - MRI Scan click here 
4 - Results Confirmation click here 
5 - Biopsy click here 
6 - Reconstruction Options click here 
7 - Time to Decide click here
8 - Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy click here
9 - Lymph Node Biopsy results click here 
10 - The Big Op click here 
11 - Day 1 Post Op click here  
12 - Day 2 Discharge Day click here
13 - Week 1 Post Op click here
14 - Week 2 Post Op click here
15 - Week 3 Post Op click here
16 - Week 4 Post Op click here
17 - Week 5 Post Op click here
18 - Week 6 Post Op click here
19 - Week 7 Post Op click here
20 - Weeks 8-13 Post Op click here
21 - 5 Months Post Op click here