In 2018, when breastfeeding her youngest son, Lisa discovered a lump. She was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer.
My name’s Lisa and I’m in my 40s. I'm a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend and colleague.
In 2018, when I was breast feeding my youngest son, I discovered a lump. At first, I thought it was blocked milk, but it turned out it wasn’t – so I went to the doctor. I had a scan and several biopsies, and it turned out I had breast cancer.
I was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer
It was aggressive and fast-growing, so the oncology team decided the best course of action was 4 rounds of Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide (EC) chemotherapy followed by 12 rounds of paclitaxel (PHP) chemotherapy with Perjeta and Herceptin targeted immunotherapy.
I tried using the cold cap, but it didn’t work very well for me, so I lost most of my hair. I did go wig shopping with a close friend, which was actually good fun. In the end, I didn’t wear the wig very much as it made me feel too hot, so I bought an array of funky scarves instead.
Once chemotherapy had finished, I had a mastectomy with axillary lymph node clearance
I started on tamoxifen, which suppresses the hormones. Not too long after that, I started 15 daily rounds of radiotherapy. I continued to have Herceptin and Perjeta every 3 weeks until December 2019.
In September 2020 I had reconstructive surgery called DIEP flap. This involves taking tissue from your stomach and using it to create a new breast. It’s a long surgery, but my recovery wasn’t too bad.
The following year I had my ovaries removed and switched to a post-surgical menopause drug called letrozole, which I’ll be on for the foreseeable future.
A cancer diagnosis really can put your life on hold
Your normal, everyday life can't necessarily go on the way that it did before. Not only does it affect you physically in terms of being tired, but your body can change too.
My relationships changed
My experience really has changed me as a person. I had to stop breastfeeding my youngest son because of my diagnosis, which had a huge impact on me.
To this day, I still feel enormously sad about having to finish my breastfeeding journey with him and how I couldn't be the mum to my boys that I was before.
Because there were so many issues that the cancer diagnosis brought up, I had counselling with an organisation called the Fountain Centre that's based at Royal Surrey Hospital. Just talking to somebody who understood the challenges that I faced really helped.
I’ve been through a lot, but I feel like a stronger person.
I decided to take part in Afternoon Tea
I’m not a good baker, but I’m certainly a good eater of bakes (although my son might say I’m a decent baker).
My colleague and I decided to take part in Afternoon Tea. We have 2 offices and got both sites involved. I sent an email to everybody letting them know when and where the tea was, and encouraged them to come along.
We wanted to raise awareness (and money!)
We downloaded and printed off a lot of the resources. This included some breast awareness guides, which made for excellent conversation starters.
Staff made or bought bakes, and we happily shared cake and a cuppa – it didn’t take much persuasion in my office as we all like a piece of cake!
It was also a great opportunity for everyone to have a good chat. Some people couldn’t come but still donated which was amazing.
The event went down really well, and it was a real highlight to spend time together.
My tip for anyone thinking of taking part is to make the event as fun and relaxed as possible (and make sure you have plenty of tea and cake!).
Hopefully, I’ll never have to experience cancer again
The fear of it returning always sits with me, but I’m determined to wring out the most that life has to offer and see my boys grow up.
Inspired by Lisa?
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