This month of its Cancer month I found a small lump in my right breast but wasn’t really worried as I thought it was because I had my period. It was slightly bigger the next month, so I decided to get it checked out in the new year. I went to my GP in February 2020 and was sent for a mammogram and a biopsy. When he told me I had triple negative breast cancer, I was actually quite OK. I’d never heard of it and thought it couldn’t be too bad because ‘negative’ is what you hope for when you go for a test. He then referred me to a surgeon with a special interest in breast cancer and told me I’d be in good hands.
The first thing the surgeon said to me was “Please don’t stress.” She assured me that they were going to take care of this and that I was not alone. I felt that I was in a very safe space which helped to take my concerns away. I was also in a pretty good emotional space when I met my oncologist as things seemed to be under control. My approach was to deal with this as quickly as possible and to get it behind me so I could carry on with life. Little did I know what was in store for me!
Before I started on my chemo regimen, my oncologist warned me about a few things. I wasn’t allowed to take any medicine without checking with her first and I had to be very, very careful about my health. She explained that my immune system would take a beating during chemo, so I had to be extremely vigilant about not picking up anything. And then COVID-19 hit our shores, just as I was starting chemo. I was livid. I raged at the universe – what was it doing to me? I was filled with anger. I thought I could deal with my diagnosis, but now there was this deadly pandemic to cope with too.
I became absolutely paranoid. My car was filled with different types of gloves, masks and sanitisers. I surrounded myself with anything and everything that said “antibacterial” and “anti-virus”. But the hospital’s COVID-19 protocols were strict and reassuring, so I slowly started relaxing during my four and a half months of chemo treatment there. After finishing chemo, I had a lumpectomy and reconstructive surgery followed by radiation six weeks later.
