It's probably not the best blog title in the world but believe it or not my inability to talk about what I was up to last week is contractually binding! What I can say is that it was a fantastic way to mark the end of my radiotherapy and you will hear all about it at the end of September which is when I will likely go into hiding!As I embark on my two year course of Tamoxifen with the hot flashes that are synonymous with the menopause initiated by the chemotherapy, I still can't quite believe that for all intents and purposes the hospital side of my treatment is over. We went to see the Oncologist this evening and agreed that we'll have the CT scan in the first week of September, he's not expecting to find anything sinister in the pictures and I'm adamant that I will remain positive no matter what happens. As I have probably mentioned before, breast cancer cells are notoriously shady, they don't show up in blood tests and that means the only way we'll know whether or not I'm cured is if no further tumours develop within the next 5 years - it's probably the worst waiting game of my life but I am determined not to let it worry me (that kind of bullshit is easier said than done!)
I also celebrated the end of radiotherapy with a trip to see yet another Plastic Surgeon, we discussed (at length) the various reconstruction options available and agreed that I will most likely be going for a very simple transverse rectus abdominis muscle flap procedure (or TRAM flap to the rest of us), in the simplest way that I can understand it, the surgeon will replace the saline expander which is doing a fantastic job of faking a boob for me with fat and muscle from my belly and will reattach the blood vessels in order to keep the tissues alive. There is no doubt that it is a major operation which will likely take between 8-10 hours and will require a 10 day stay in hospital but by the end of it I will have a beautiful new boob, a 'lifted' healthy boob and a tummy tuck....! How awesome is that?! He paid me a backhanded compliment as he said there isn't quite enough fat on my belly to be able to plan the procedure anytime soon, it normally takes between 6-12 months following radiotherapy for the skin to heal, so we've agreed to aim for January by which time I can spend Christmas stuffing my face as I will be "growing a new boob!"
So, in a nutshell, life is certainly starting to get back to normal and we're all very excited about our family holiday to Rhodes next week. Thank you for not forgetting about us and for all of your lovely messages of support.
#fightlikeagirl
