What a year...!!

Last May, after ignoring a funny little lump for about six months, I decided I better make that first scary call to my GP. He saw me that afternoon and there began my year of treatments, surgeries and never ending medical appointments.

After loads of tests and a biopsy, it was sadly confirmed that I did infact have breast cancer. Talk about having the wind knocked out of you! My husband, Greg, and I just sat in shock and disbelief when we received the news. I was only 37! And we were just getting ready to celebrate our first wedding anniversary! Also, I just moved to the UK from the USA in February 2008, so as you can imagine the distance from my parents was incredibly immense. With no time to waste, I had a lumpectomy on June 5th and after a few weeks of waiting for the pathology results, I was officially diagnosed with Stage 1 Grade 2 breast cancer. The good news was that it was caught early and it didn't spread to my lymph nodes so no chemotherapy, just two months of radiotherapy. Though that wasn't a walk in the park either. I was on my way to recovery when my surgeon found raised CA125 levels in my blood test results. Long story short, I was referred to another surgeon and based on more blood tests and ultrasounds he was pretty sure ("95% sure" to be exact) that I had ovarian cancer....

Knowing that women with breast cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer made it a terrifying couple of months as I went through more testing and the eventual removal of the both ovarian masses in December (one the size of an orange!). A couple of weeks later....we found out he was wrong! Thank goodness for that 5%!!! One of the cysts was very rare and mimics ovarian cancer BUT is completely benign! It's so rare that they want to put me in their medical books!

I can't express how frightening the last nine months have been. The love and support from my friends and family has been absolutely overwhelming and I wouldn't have made it through with such a positive attitude without them.

Now I'm able to breathe again. And start work again. And make plans again. And start kicking some butt! So now you could say I'm on a mission. And I'm starting with this walk. Next, who knows, maybe I'll go back to school and fight cancer face to face! This experience has changed the way I look at everything and not one minute of my life goes by without my deepest and everlasting appreciation.

14/04/2010 - Update 1: Unfortunately, my surgeon has found another large cyst on my left ovary and I'm scheduled for surgery on the 26th of April. You can't imagine what a disappointment this is for me. I was just beginning to feel that I was gaining control over my life again and...'poof'....I guess I have to wait a little longer. So with a heavy heart, I am updating this to let you know I will not be able to walk with my team. However, my amazing husband is going to take my place! And I'll be there as a support volunteer and congratulating my wonderful team with pink champagne at the finish!

23/04/2010 - Update 2: Found yet another cyst on my OTHER ovary....so postponing surgery and experimenting with other cancer drugs to see if my current one might be causing the issues. Then another ultrasound and possible surgery in 4-6 weeks. Which means....I CAN DO THE WALK!!!!!! :-) Yippy!

Thank you for reading my story and thank you again for your conitnued love and support!

Jillx