So what were you doing on the day that the government voted on the #BrexitVote?
Sat in a waiting room at Stepping Hill Hospital to find out the results of a liver MRI, and the spinal biopsy:
I was joking on Facebook about how long I was in the waiting room for (normal), and as I’ve now been silent for nearly 3 hours, I’m guessing that people have guessed that the news is not 100% good.
Good news: Nothing wrong with my liver, we can forget worrying about that
Bad news: the lump on my spine is a small mets (a really tiny one that has already reacted to chemo), so I am now categorically #Stage4, metastatic/secondary breast cancer. *Added* Primary cancer treatment is designed to be ‘curative’, secondary cancer is where the original cells have spread elsewhere in the body, and is not deemed curable, but can – they think in my case – be treated for many years as a chronic, rather than a terminal condition.
Good news: It’s really tiny, and they have lots of treatments in mind for it, including a trial, and these will be explained in detail with my appointment with the oncologist next Monday – they said they are really optimistic about the prognosis of keeping me going for a long time, keep getting on with work – they’ll just be a whole lot more tests, scans and treatments – and they emphasised the need to keep the long-term focus going that has been carrying me through so far – we’re going for that Professorship, keeping on with the gym, taking time out, and I need to keep asking for help…
Bad news: I’ll never be free of cancer – lovely BCN said you need time to grieve, time to chill, so I’m trying to let people know in one go.
Good news: I’m feeling relatively optimistic if a bit like I’ve been punched in the gut, and unsurprisingly full of random weepiness!
So, I’ll appreciate all your love, hugs, though you may not get much of a reply, not so much your stories of people you know who have died of similar, suggestions of kale and ‘magic remedies’… oh, and if anyone decides they want to paint my hallway, I have the tools! #waterygrin