The Diagnosis

Thursday, 12th June 2025

13 long days later, we finally got to go back for the results of the biopsies.

The Breast Care nurse Siobhan showed us to the Consultants room and sat down. 

When I found out the first time round I was with my mum - I was far more naive the first time round and had no clue that they were going to tell me I had Cancer. But I remember mum saying she saw the Macmillan Nurse’s business card on the front of the consultants desk and knew it wasn’t going to be good news. 

This time round the presence of Siobhan alerted me to the fact that this possibly wasn’t going to be the news I was hoping for. 

I was right. 

The consultant said that the biopsy had confirmed the ‘presence of disease’ in the lump. 

The world came crashing down around me. 

I couldn’t believe it - not again.

She confirmed that this was a new Cancer, completely unrelated to my first one (apparently primary and secondary Cancer cells look completely different under a microscope).

This was at least a positive. 

She said multiple times, I’ve caught it very early, it’s very small (8mm), the axillary glands were showing no sign of involvement (another positive).

The surgery to remove the lump would be relatively non-invasive. 

It was too early to tell what type of Breast Cancer this was. Last time it was Her2 positive, which means that it was not receptive to hormones. 

At the time this was a really good thing as it meant I could take Herceptin as treatment and wouldn't need to take Tamoxifen, which a lot of my peers going through the journey with me had to take and the side effects sounded awful.

So they would need to wait a little longer to see what the cells grew into. 

Because I had now had two occurrences in 15 years it meant I am now eligible for genetic testing (woohoo!) although I thought I had this last time, Siobhan said they hadn’t tested for the brca gene (these are the ones that can mean there is a much higher risk of Breast and Ovarian Cancer being inherited) and why many women - including a very close friend of mine, choose to have their breasts, womb and ovaries removed without any Cancerous cells present.

Other things that were discussed -

Could I keep my nipple this time? - last time it was removed with the mastectomy,
A - yes I would keep my nipple, this time it would likely be just a lumpectomy.

Could they change my implants? - they are 15 years old now and should be replaced every 10-15 years anyway 

A - yes they would have to order a new one as standard procedure in case it was ruptured in the surgery. 

Could they replace the other side (implant) too?

A - yes that would also be ok.

Could we go on our planned holiday, booked for 3 ½ weeks time?

A - yes, we could go and enjoy our holiday, I would come in for surgery shortly after I get back. 

Mark’s reaction to this made me chuckle “Miss the holiday???!!!”

Would I have to have Chemotherapy again? (this was my biggest fear)

A - most likely not, as it was so small and the likelihood of getting clear margins would be high. She couldn’t confirm for definite until we got the results of cell growth and CT scan results. 

The next step was explained as being the CT scan to make sure for definite that there was nothing else lurking anywhere else in my body - this would be done ASAP next week.

She assured me she wasn’t worried, but it was protocol to make sure before making our plan of action. I have to admit I don’t feel quite so confident in her assurances since the misjudgement of the ‘good lump’ from my first examination. So I will be waiting with baited breath for the results.

Driving away from the hospital was the worst one yet, this time I had a positive Cancer diagnosis rather than a maybe and I think I was in shock.