Second Hospital Appointment - Part 1

So, slightly more organised this time I have booked the entire day off work and booked my husband to come with me. The vibes of the DW Mafia are with me but tension is running high. Stressed doesn't even begin to cover it. 

Part of the house reorganisation requires a new sofa, so we pop to DFS on the way. We are the salesman's dream - he looks hopeful as we walk in at two minutes to 9 and looks delighted as we advise him that we have to leave by 10, having purchased a sofa. I won't bore you with the ins and outs, but we left at 9.59, mission accomplished. At least, I think, if I have cancer and have to have time off work, I can relax in style.....

So, off across town to the hospital. Our appointment is for 11.10am and they're running late when we get there, which is not surprising - they have a lot of people to see and cancer is a sensitive subject - the consultants don't rush people through, they take their time and are extremely thorough as you will see.

Despite being told that we'll be seen an hour late, we are seen at 11.40 which gives me time to go to the loo about a hundred times. Turns out my bladder is nervous. 

We go in to see the consultant, who rather humorously is called Mr Pain. He comes in with the Breast Care Nurse, Kit, a student doctor, and a rather thick file. Initial signs are not good (i.e. medical staff en mass), and I have a horrible sinking feeling.

We are told that the cells from the biopsy of the lump have shown that they are pre-cancer which is upsetting and encouraging all at once. Mr Pain, (who is lovely and reminds me of Galton Blackiston - a Norfolk Chef), also explains that I'm slightly awkward as the results from the fine needle aspiration of the lymph node have come back negative which is not what they were expecting.

So, the next step is to have mammograms of both breasts, then a further scan and biopsy of the swollen axillary lymph node in order to see whether it tests positive.

So, with stiff upper lip we go off to have a mammogram or two, knowing that depending on the results we get from those, more tests will be needed.

We didn't have to wait long for the mammogram - I'd sent my husband off to get something to eat at this point as he hadn't had time for breakfast before leaving for the hospital, and I ended up going in on my own, which was fine.

More breastfeeding related humour followed - squeezing milk producing breasts only ever ends up with one thing - a mess, so with tissue at the ready, the lovely nurse scanned both sides. The mammograms weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be - merely uncomfortable, and were over really quickly.

I got dressed, left the nurse to wipe up the milk.....and went back to wait for the scan and further biopsy.

We didn't have to wait too long all things considered, and went through to a freezing room to see the radiologist, Mr Mason. I'll admit, I did ask for the air conditioning to be turned off as I was getting undressed for the second time that day. Brrrrrrrrr.

Mr Mason and another student doctor came in and the first thing he said was how sorry he was that I had been diagnosed with cancer. At this point, I thought I might be sick, as an hour or so previously we'd been calling it pre-cancer.

Turns out that what I had been diagnosed with is Ductal Carcinoma in Situ, which is both a cancer and a pre-cancer. Confusing. 

In essence, it is cancer that hasn't spread from the milk ducts. It felt like the end of the world, but I had to pull myself together for the next set of tests. 

I also felt very sorry for the Radiologist, who apologised profusely as it isn't his preferred way of telling people......i.e. when they are half naked under a towel. 

Anyway, we moved on and the local anaesthetic was applied, and we spent the best part of an hour chasing round the lymph node to get a good biopsy which is apparently "like chasing a pea round in porridge with a cocktail stick".

However, they are brilliant, and in conjunction with Mr Pain who's hiding behind the curtain somewhere, we get a really good sample.

I'm taped up and told that I will be extremely sore for a while - most certainly true as as soon as the local started to wear off it was excruciating. Fortunately, paracetamol was forthcoming very quickly.....

We sit with cups of tea and wait for the mammogram results - junior doctor No 2 proves himself very superior at making tea, and someone even rustles up a packet of biscuits. This is usually heaven, but not today. It feels like the bottom has just fallen out of my world.