Results....

I am fecking delighted to let you know that the cancer in my sternum that was causing the most concern is gone! The cancer in the lymph nodes affected is gone! The rest of my affected bones are stable and there is no spread to my organs. Yes I still have cancer and always will but for now treatment is working!

Mammogram 4 years on: Situation Normal!

Finally got my mammogram results. Had to get them in the end by calling my BCN, almost a 4 week wait is pretty bad! I know the longer you wait, the more likely it is to be okay, but still they really should let you know. Waiting is the worst.

But anyway, everything is okay!! Yippeee! My BCN actually told me something I never knew, mammograms are graded from M1 > 5, with 5 being the most distorted. She told me that both sides (as in both boobs) showed as M1 and that if they could have been M0 then hey would have been! Huzzah!

Op Update

On Friday I went for the results of my operation and I got mixed news. The great news is that following the SLNB, the lymph nodes do not contain cancer cells meaning that the cancer is contained and has not spread.

What happens after a lumpectomy is that the tissue that has been removed is examined to see if there is a 2mm margin of healthy cells around the cancer. This is known as a clear or negative margin. Unfortunately in my case there wasn't a clear margin (known as positive margins - ironic because it's not positive news!), which means that I need to have another operation (scheduled for 22/01) to remove a bit more tissue. Apparently this happens in around 20-25% of cases following a WLE.

Although obviously I'm really pleased about the lymph nodes, this journey just seems never ending!