Today was treatment plan day.
The atmosphere at home the night before a hospital appointment is like a family holiday, the house crowded, everyone's routines abandoned, laughter and making meals out of 'picky bits'. My guess it's because we're all relieved we're one step closer to treatment and last night was no different.
After packing the girls off to pre - school and school, it was time to head off to the fantastic, looks more like an airport, Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Here's what I know:
I still have breast cancer. (Was counting on a whoops moment )
I know the type of cancer I have can only be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and possibly radiotherapy.
At the moment, it looks like it's only the lump and not present anywhere else, including my neighbouring lymph nodes. All my soft tissue and bones are clear!!
My treatment will start with chemotherapy and not surgery. I'll be meeting my oncologist within the fortnight to set out my chemo schedule and it looks like I'll be having six rounds.
On Monday I will get the results of my gene testing and that will determine the extent of surgery I have. So all in all it's about as positive as you could hope for.
The most vitally important piece of information I got while I was there was from one of the Breast Care Nurses. She said: "Just because we gave it a name doesn't mean it's grown legs," which was in response to me asking if it could spread in the next couple of weeks while my chemo plan is put in place. No one knows for certain but they would estimate my tumour has been in existence, from that very first rogue cell, for about a year. When you look at it in those terms it doesn't cast such a big shadow.
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