After months of treatment I slowly no longer recognised myself

I’m Jan, I’m married to Mike and have 2 sons – Callum 25, and Charlie 21. We live just inside North Wales, not far from Chester.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2022

It was found incidentally, after a CT scan of my lung. The radiographer spotted I had a lump in my breast. I had no symptoms. They referred me for a mammogram and after hours of tests they said it was likely to be cancer. I had a biopsy and waited a week for my results. It turned out I had a stage 1, grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma cancer in my right breast. It was classed as triple negative, as it wasn’t receptive to hormones or protein.

The cancer was found pretty early, which was fortunate, and I was scheduled for surgery to have it removed. I was told I’d also need chemotherapy and radiotherapy as the cancer was classed as invasive, and the further treatment would reduce the risk of recurrence.

The shock of this diagnosis was massive, it gives me chills thinking of it now

But you don’t really have a lot of time to think as you’re very quickly into a rollercoaster of appointments, surgery and treatment.

I turned to Breast Cancer Now’s website, to find out about my diagnosis. It’s an incredibly worrying time, but the website is written in such a straightforward way – it’s informative and very easy to understand and navigate. It’s such an accessible type of support for people going through breast cancer.

I quickly went from having a work diary to a hospital diary

I found this difficult as I’ve worked all my life, and I had to get used to a completely different routine.

Before my surgery, I got in touch with Breast Cancer Now’s Someone Like Me team to ask if I could speak to someone who had been through the same experience. I had a chat with a lady before my surgery. It was helpful to talk to someone who had been through it and to ask some questions. I was very apprehensive before surgery, so she talked me through what to expect and gave me some good advice.

It was the reassurance I needed at a very difficult time and I’m very grateful for that support

I had the cancer removed, a breast reduction and sentinel lymph node biopsy. I waited for the results and was so relieved to find it hadn’t gone into my lymph nodes. I had about 4 weeks to recover from surgery. I met my oncologist, got my head around having chemotherapy and had a PICC line put in. After that I had a course of radiotherapy.

I used the Breast Cancer Now website throughout my treatment and I signed up for the forum. I wanted to know what to expect and hear about other peoples’ experiences. I must have used the side effects section every few days during the early parts of my treatment, as it was worrying at times.

After months of treatment I slowly no longer recognised myself

Your appearance has a big impact on your mental health. You go from your normal routine of working, being physically active and healthy, and looking well. To then going through major surgery and treatment which makes you feel very poorly and look very different. To be honest, it pushed me to my limits.

That said, my husband, family and friends supported me throughout (so a big thanks to them!). I also met some amazing and supportive people throughout my cancer journey, and I’ll be forever grateful to my healthcare team.

I try to keep positive and make the most of each day

Since recovering from breast cancer I’ve got into running, and enjoy doing the parkrun every Saturday.  I joined a group called ‘5k your way’ which supports people affected by or living with cancer to do 5k their own way – for example by running or walking.

I wanted to give something back to Breast Cancer Now

I found their support was invaluable throughout my diagnosis and treatment, so I wanted to give back by fundraising and decided to hold an Afternoon Tea.

I had a garden party with about 30 people attending. We were really lucky with the weather. We had a big gazebo, pink balloons and a life size cardboard cut-out of Colin Firth (who only appears at parties and very special occasions).

The whole day was a real celebration, and it was great to bring my family and friends together after a pretty tough year

We had lots of cake, and I put on a range of fun games – we had a great laugh. We did a ‘cube type’ game which involved 2 people competing against each other to transfer balls from one box to another.

I was keen to raise awareness of the importance of self-checking and the signs and symptoms of breast cancer at my event. So I got some Know your breast leaflets from Breast Cancer Now to hand out to my friends and family on the day.