Welcome
My Cancer Journey from Diagnosis to Recovery
The Cancer Diagnosis and Surgery
I had a very happy childhood with loving parents and lots of friends.
When you leave school and college and try to find your own way in the world, it is not always easy.
Jobs were quite easy to come by and I had a comfortable lifestyle, with my wonderful family, trips abroad and lots of friends.
Later on in life, I started to experiencing pain in my left breast. I visited my GP for a checkup, and she examined me, but could not be sure if there was anything suspicious, and referred me to the Royal Marsden hospital in Sutton. They did a mammogram, followed by a biopsy and asked me to come back in a week for my results. Accompanied by my partner, I went back to the hospital expecting good news. They told me that I had breast cancer!!. My whole world fell apart. I felt absolutely devastated, shocked, angry and scared and kept asking myself "why me, what have I done to deserve this?” I didn’t want to talk about it or consider the next steps. I was persuaded by the hospital team that surgery was my best option. In medical terms, I had metatastic breast cancer ER positive, PR positive and HER2 positive Grade III invasive ductal carcinoma. I had a mastectomy of the left breast, at the Royal Marsden in Sutton in July, just before my 50th birthday. During the operation, they found that the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes and had to extract 21 out of 24 lymph nodes. I felt like I had been butchered, was in considerable pain and considered myself only half a woman, when it was over. Thoughts kept going round in my head that my partner would leave me, that I was a freak and that I would be all alone to face the next part of my journey!!. I was sent home to rest and recuperate, with a drain and a very large supply of pain killers.
Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy
A month after the operation, I underwent extensive chemotherapy, administered intravenously every 3 weeks at the Royal Marsden. The drug they used was called FEC. This made me feel extremely ill, so I could not work for 6 months. As I had been at my workplace for over 2 years, my company paid me my full salary. During this treatment, I felt very lethargic, sick, constipated, couldn't really taste food and had a very sore mouth. I also lost a lot of weight, lost all my hair, needed a wig and headscarves, and felt like Shit!! It was the worst ever experience of my entire life, as the chemo targeted the good cells as well as the bad. This was followed by a month of radiotherapy, which was not so bad. My partner, his family and a few friends were incredibly supportive, throughout my ordeal. Believe it or not, I was very positive throughout my treatment and celebrated every milestone. My partner and I vowed to beat this “bastard” cancer together. The doctors and nurses at the Royal Marsden hospital were exceptionally good, and I had some counselling after such a traumatic experience.
A Revelation
At least I was alive, after my worst nightmare, but a lot of women don't make it. Unfortunately, after an MRI scan, they found that a tiny bit of cancer had spread to my spine and I was forced to live with secondary cancer and continue to have treatment for that even now.
I asked myself "where do I go from here?", as, after the cancer treatment, I was experiencing acute lack of confidence, very low self-esteem and felt very uncomfortable when looking at my body. When I went on holiday and wore my bikini, I had to wear a prosthesis to replace my left breast. I felt very self-conscious and thought people were looking at me and laughing! I could never use communal changing rooms, for fear of being ridiculed, and always had to hide in the toilets to get changed. Low cut tops or dresses were a no no!!
With the help of coaching, I found self-love, resilience, learned to appreciate the fact that I was still around and being grateful for what I had. I learned to reprogramme my mindset to think differently. Realisation that negative thoughts leads to an unfulfilling life, is a game changer. I discovered that my partner and other people loved me just the way I was. I started to love and respect my body and this made me realise what an amazing human being I was. Slowly, I realised my passions and what made me feel alive!
Reconstruction and my happy ever after
After a few years, in 2016, I decided to have reconstructive surgery. This procedure was called DIEP flap. It was quite a long, complicated operation and my new breast was made out of my tummy fat. I had 2 months off work and was in a lot of pain, while waiting for both areas to heal. There was no stopping me after that, as I felt like a new woman and was complete at last. My confidence soared, my self-esteem rocketed and I felt truly empowered!. It totally changed my life!!!!!
I married my long-term partner, after 20 years together, and am the happiest I have ever been in years. Despite having secondary cancer, life is treating me very well now. I have a busy social life, enjoy my holidays, have attended a couple of photography workshops and joined a couple of local groups – Epsom Speakers Club and the WI. Also, I am really enjoying my retirement.
Step into Your Empowerment
It is for this reason that I decided I wanted to help professional women to change and improve their lives, after undergoing such a traumatic experience. I always remained positive throughout my ordeal, and would like to channel this positivity to others in the same situation.
I am a fully ACPPH accredited transformational coach, a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner and a Hypnotherapist. I am ready to make life happier, easier and better for all concerned according to individual needs and goals.
If you can resonate with my story and are about to embark on, or are already on a cancer journey, I urge all professional women to reach out to me and make that discovery call. This will be a complimentary 60-minute 1-2-1 discussion to find out about your challenges and the best way to unlock them. If we can build a relationship and you decide that I am the best person who can help you, I will then come up with an individual plan and strategy to use in our sessions, which will support, guide and empower you on your perilous cancer journey. Imagine going from surviving to thriving without compromise!!.
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