Welcome - we've grown the site a lot in recent months
Feel free to browse around - or use the search box below to search the site for specific breast cancer information
We've also added these breast cancer videos by popular demand. Click on the image to make the video play. Take a look. Let us know what you think of them:
Spreading the Word
It's quite an amazing thing to watch the little site that you created suddenly being picked up and written about by other sites around the web.
Marjory and I planned this blog as a personal project that we hoped would bring some reassurance or comfort to others as they read it - allowing them to realise that the problems they face and the difficulties they are going through are not unique to them. There's something comforting in realising that you are not facing things like cancer all alone.
Even in the ten days or so since we started blogging we've had comments posted and emails through, suggesting that we're already having exactly that effect.
Keep the comments coming please - it helps us both a lot (Marjory in particular)
We've also had mentions on the
Cancer Blog and on
Family First - both sites giving us a lot of encouragement and reassuring us that we're going in the right direction.
If you have a website and you'd like to give us a link then please feel free to do so - the more people who visit us, the more effective we can become.
Thanks to all of you for your support. There's a certain magic in the warmth that it seems to create
Gordon and Marjory
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Radiotherapy Research - Fewer Treatments Option
Radiotherapy Treatment for Breast Cancer
New options for fewer radiotherapy treatment sessions might be possible
New
research has just been published that suggests that only thirteen sessions of radiotherapy could be just as effective as the traditional twenty five for women with breast cancer.
The new radiotherapy research was published in the Lancet medical journal this week.
The researchers found that thirteen larger doses of
breast cancer radiotherapy were just as effective at reducing the risk of breast cancer returning as the more traditional twenty five smaller ones.
The larger breast cancer radiotherapy doses seemed to be as safe as the previous twenty five smaller doses and did not seem to increase the risk of side-effects.
I guess that time will tell if this new
breast cancer radiotherapy option is picked up and used by many oncology units. If it is then many women will find their overall radiotherapy treatment course more tolerable - particularly if they have a long way to travel for treatment. It might also lead to shorter waiting lists for radiotherapy treatment for all patients.
Watch this space ....
Gordon
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MastectomyAll you ever wanted to know ... but didn't know who to ask !Here we are - Marjory and Gordon sitting over a bottle of wine on a Monday evening and it feels like a chapter is already closing.
Marjory had her mastectomy just a bit over two weeks ago and we will start onto the next phase (chemotherapy) shortly - possibly before the week is out. It's amazing how your perception of time changes when something like this happens in your life.
So - what's the story - mastectomy wise? What don't they tell you in the text books? I'll let Marjory take it from here ...
- all in all it hasn't nearly been as bad as I thought - having never had an operation (even without all the cancer stuff) I was terrified. However, three or four hours post op, I seemed to be coping and that's whats happened ever since.
- the mastectomy drains were the bit I wasn't prepared for and I had one of them in until seven days post op. Painful - no, but very uncomfortable and a source of constant annoyance.
- Seroma - again not much information given to me before the operation but .. should have been !! Now, having had two drained and knowing it may happen a few times more, I can't say that I was in any way prepared for this. Don't get me wrong, they're not painful and the draining is not painful but, even as a trained nurse, the seromas have made me panic slightly when I see my chest swell almost to the size of my lost boob !!
- the scar doesn't bother me at all and I'm not sure if this is just because I'm not letting it or - more likely - it really doesn't. I'm still me and the only person that ever sees is Gordon - and he seems less bothered by it that I was to start with.
- the Softee / Comfee prosthesis has become my best friend - I love it - it's soft, it makes me look normal and - at the moment I can see no need for a silicone prosthesis. This may change but if I can wear a tight tee shirt at the moment (and I can) then there's hope for everyone.
If this is about to happen to you, or has recently, then I hope that all this helps. It's all about doing the best we can in a difficult situation. I've found it much easier than I thought.
Marjory and Gordon
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Chemotherapy HatsWhere to find hats for chemoJust found
fab site for lovely stylish hats that made me feel very feminine and positive instead of the bald frump that I imagined I would be. I worried about chemotherapy hats and where I could get hold of one.
My thoughts up until now are that it's going to be wig or nothing but this has made me think that maybe, just maybe hats and chemotherapy might work together. As I'm going to start chemo mid June, I want a hat or something that will allow me to stay cool when the weather is hot ( In Scotland?! )
Going for my wig fitting tomorrow with my 17 yr old daughter-what better critic? In a strange way looking forward to it and so is she!
So, hats , wigs who knows what I'll settle on but the choice is there and for the first time the thought of losing my hair, although still very scarey, is slightly and I mean only slightly dare I say it.....sexy!
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Seroma fluid gathering after mastectomyWell - here we are again!
Day 17 after my mastectomy and I've been back up at the hospital breast clinic this morning to have another 300 ml of
seroma fluid drained from beneath my chest wall scar.
This time it was drained by a specialist nurse practitioner who was really down to earth and helpful.
Here's her take on
seroma after mastectomy:
She said that seroma formation happens to nearly everyone to some degree - more in older women and often more in women with larger breasts.
The only real reason to drain the fluid is if it becomes very uncomfortable - which it certainly did for me.
If you decide to have seroma fluid drained then it can take up to three or four goes before it stops reaccumulating and it often becomes more uncomfortable each time that the drainage is done.
She was really reassuring - telling me that it was nothing to worry about and that having a seroma does not cause any problems with the long term healing or the long term appearance.
So - lets hope that's it then for me - although somehow I just expect that I'll be back again for another go at drainage.
Marjory
You can also read my other posts about seroma after mastectomy and about draining seroma fluid
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Breast Cancer SymptomIs A Breast Cancer Lump Painful or Not?When looking through the logs for the site today I noticed that someone had found us by asking a search engine the question above:
is breast cancer painful? Is pain a common
breast cancer symptom?
In Marjory's case the lump she found was
painless and about the size of a large raisin (around 1cm long). I think that this is the breast cancer symptom experience of many women, and of course it is the lack of discomfort that can lead to a lump taking so long to show itself. If all breast cancers were painful then I dare say that many of them would be picked up at an earlier stage.
Older medical textbooks used to say that a painful lump was of less concern as a breast cancer symptom than a painless one. To an extent that still seems true but - as more and more becomes known about breast cancer - we really cant take that for granted.
If you find a lump in your breast then seek medical advice -
always, always, always.
Don't find ways to reassure yourself or to talk yourself into "just leaving it for a bit" to see if it changes or gets better. It's human nature to do that, I know - but please don't fall into that pattern.
All lumps in the breast need properly checked out - whether they are painful breast lumps or painless breast lumps. It is certainly true that breast problems like infection or breast cysts can cause painful discomfort - but so can breast cancer at times.
Please - don't take any chances - if you think you might have a breast cancer symptom then seek medical help as soon as you can.
Read
this article for more information about pain and breast cancer symptoms
You can read more on this site about breast pain and
signs of breast cancer on our breast lump archive page
Gordon
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Contact Us
How to contact usWe've avoided leaving our email address on this site - trying to avoid the omnipresent curse of spam emails.
However, we are notified each time that a comment is left on the site.
If you want to get in touch then leave a comment below - include your email address if you need us to reply
Thanks
Gordon and Marjory
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Search this Breast Cancer Information Site
Twinkletwinkles.com is designed as a "blog" site.
This means that many of the available pages are held in archive files.
If you are searching for specific
Breast Cancer Information then please use the search box below
You can choose to search this site or to search the web - just click in the relevant button area
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Choosing Chemotherapy for Her2 Positive CancerWe've described the combination of chemotherapy chosen for Marjory
elsewhere on this siteThe way that the Edinburgh Cancer Centre and the Edinburgh Breast Unit work is to have a once weekly multi-disciplinary meeting of all the medical, nursing and other related teams. This meeting discusses each patient in turn and a consensus is reached on the best combination of treatments for each patient.
Marjory was allocated this combination:
- Four sessions of CEF chemotherapy at three week intervals
- Four weeks of radiotherapy
- Four sessions of Taxotere and Herceptin
- Ongoing Herceptin
- Femara for long term
Reading this article about modern treatment concepts for HER2 positive tumours suggests that her treatment plan is following pretty much the most cutting edge option.
This of course is both encouraging and scary at the same time - so on we go. Wish us luck!
Gordon
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CEF chemotherapy or FEC chemotherapy and HER2 statusCEF chemotherapy is a combination of three drugs: cyclophosphamide + epirubicin + fluorouracil
The combination is called CEF in the USA and is known as FEC in the UK
Recent research has shown that this combination is much more effective than others when the breast cancer cells are strongly HER2 positive - the kind of cells that respond to herceptin in other words.
The research was published in 2006 and provides yet more encouragement for those women with breast cancer who are HER 2 positive
Gordon
Marjory and Gordon have published more
herceptin articles on the herceptin treatment overview page. You can follow the link in the right hand margin for more herceptin information
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Oncologist Visit Today
Riding the Big Rollercoaster"if you can meet with triumph and disaster
and treat those two imposters both the same"
In the few weeks since we first discovered Marjory's tumour our lives have been the biggest rollercoaster ride you could ever imagine. High one day - low the next. If you're reading this with experience of cancer then you'll know exactly what I mean. If you're just facing up to a new diagnosis then be prepared for the ups and downs - don't panic when the down's come and enjoy the up days when they arrive. As Rudyard Kipling said:
Today's been a high day. We saw our oncologist for the first time today - having previously been in the care of a breast surgeon.
For the first time really, we have a clear map in place of what lies ahead. All the questions about diagnosis, pathology, treatment options and choices have now more or less been answered and we can clearly see the dragon that we face. And you know something - it's not nearly as big or as scary a dragon as we would have thought.
Chemo starts in just under two weeks. Four treatments with the FEC regimen at three week intervals. A week or so off and then four weeks of radiotherapy. Another few weeks off and its back for more chemo - this time with Taxotere and Herceptin combined. All finished off with a years worth of Herceptin and a prolonged course of Femara or Arimidex. Now - ask yourself - what kind of a fire breathing cancer cell could cope with that lot?
If you are working through the early stages of breast cancer treatment then here's our advice. Keep plodding on. The way ahead remains rocky but once you get a good road map to guide you then the shadows recede and you can begin to look forward to reaching your destination.
Sorry about all the flowery language - Keep Your Spirits Up - that's what we're really trying to say
Marjory and Gordon
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Delayed Breast Reconstruction after MastectomyMarjory chose not to have breast reconstruction at the time of her mastectomy surgery.
We knew that Marjory was going to have radiotherapy as well as chemo even before she underwent her operation. We had a long talk with her surgeon - and with his guidance - decided not to choose immediate breast reconstruction after the mastectomy operation. He feared that the radiotherapy might damage the medium or longer term appearance and suggested we consider delaying any breast reconstruction for a year or so until the radiotherapy effects had settled.
After a lot of thought, we decided to take his advice. No breast reconstruction for the time being.
Marjory fears that her other breast will be vulnerable to cancer in the future. It's our plan to consider having a preventive (prophylactic)
subcutaneous mastectomy on the other breast.
Our intention is to get the chemotherapy and radiotherapy over with and then to return for an implant based "boob job" on both sides - hoping for a good cosmetic result that way.
So - for the time being at least - Marjory is managing with a simple soft breast prosthesis and a pocketed bra. It looks great - yes really - actually:
really really.Lots of friends have commented that you really can't tell that she's had a mastectomy - and, even when you know that she has - you can't tell which side the breast was removed from. And thats only with the simple soft post op foam prosthesis, things will look even more natural once a proper fitting has been arranged.
Even at only two weeks down the line, things are working out much better than we would have believed possible. If you're facing this too then take heart - please. Life gets back to normal amazingly quickly.
Read more
mastectomy information on our mastectomy overview page
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Normal life after mastectomyWell - who would have thought it?
It's nine pm on a Friday night - two weeks to the day since Marjory had her mastectomy and I'm sitting alone, writing this having settled four year old Anna into bed just a while ago.
Where's Marjory? Why, out for a night with friends of course. Looking fantastic and feeling pretty good about herself into the bargain. If you are facing mastectomy soon then be reassured - I'm sure its not the same for everyone - but Marjory is living proof that you can get back to near normal amazingly quickly.
She hasn't had it all plain sailing - the seroma has been a problem and her arm has been pretty sore at times - but things are improving quickly day by day. No doubt some food, good company and a glass or two of wine will help speed the recovery even more.
I'm off for a beer and to watch some soccer on TV - normal life resumed indeed!
Gordon
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Herceptin UK Approval for Early Breast Cancer
Herceptin Approved for Early Breast Cancer
Just seen on the newswires and in other blogs that Herceptin has now been given approval for use in early breast cancer in the European Union. This should now mean that the UK government and NICE gives it the go-ahead for use in the UK and on the NHS.
Well done and a huge thanks to all those who campaigned for herceptin in the UK
Gordon
Read more of our articles about herceptin use on our
herceptin treatment page
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Seroma after mastectomy - what is a seroma?Seroma formation is the most frequent postoperative complication after breast cancer surgery.
The suffix
-oma in medicine is open to a number of translations but I suppose that the most useful is to suggest that it applies to
"a gathering of" something.
So hematoma is a gathering of blood. Neuroma is a gathering of nerve endings. Lymphoma is a gathering of lymphatic cells, melanoma is a gathering of melanin (pigment) cells and hemangioma is a gathering of blood vessels.
Serous fluid is the pale yellow straw coloured fluid that is produced by lymph vessels and by the tissues that lie beneath the skin. You'll have seen serous fluid if you've ever had a blister on your hand or foot - the fluid that comes out when you puncture a blister is serous fluid.
A
Seroma then is just
a gathering of serous fluid.
Seroma formation is not uncommon after
mastectomy surgery - particularly if the lymph glands in the armpit are removed at the same time.
Some studies suggest that between thirty and ninety percent of mastectomy patients develop a seroma. Repeated skin punctures are used to drain the seroma. These are uncomfortable and can lead to local infection. Rarely - if an infection develops - a seroma can lead to a delay in starting chemotherapy.
Normally the straw coloured serous fluid flows through the lymph vessels - tiny tubes that join up the lymph glands. If these tubes are cut or removed then the serous fluid escapes into area below the skin and gathers there - forming a soft, jelly- like swelling called a seroma.
Seroma after mastectomy is most commonly seen around the actual mastectomy wound at the front but it may develop in the armpit or even around the shoulder blade if muscle has been taken from that area to reconstruct the breast.
Seroma is thought to be caused by the fact that the mastecomy operation leaves a lot of "empty space" under the skin where the breast tissue used to be. The walls around this empty space are raw and can ooze serous fluid - causing it to gather up in the space beneath the wound. The fact that the walls of the empty space are inflamed seems to trigger the seroma fluid.
Seroma TreatmentDifferent surgeons and surgical units may take a different view on how best to handle a seroma after mastectomy. If the seroma becomes very large then it can be very uncomfortable and the stretching of the skin at the mastectomy site can create some pretty weird feeling sensations. In this scenario then it is an easy thing for a doctor to drain off the excess liquid with a simple needle and syringe. More than one go at this is often required.
Different procedures have been tried to avoid seroma formation.
These include immobilisation of the arm and shoulder after mastectomy, different drain regimens, closing of the dead space of the cavity, injecting different chemical substances as thrombin, tranexamacid and fibrin. None of these has been successful.
A new
research project is exploring whether an injection of steroid after the surgery may help prevent seroma from forming. Early results seem promising.
If the seroma is small or is not causing any severe discomfort then your surgeon may simply opt to leave it alone. Most seromas will reabsorb themselves over a number of weeks or months.
Breaking the skin with a needle to drain a seroma leaves a slight risk of introducing infection into the area and you should bear this in mind when deciding if you need fluid drained off.
Read more about seroma after mastectomy below:
Research into seroma frequencySloan Kettering Article about Mastectomy and ComplicationsYou can also read about
Marjory's experience of a seroma Check out our article resource pages for more information on seroma and on life after mastectomy
Hope this is helpful
Gordon
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Relief from a seromaRelief at last.
Since my surgery nearly two weeks ago I'd been aware of a slow build up of fluid around my wound. My armpit drain had been producing large amounts of fluid right up to the last minute before it was removed and the nurse who removed it did warn me that a
seroma might form.
At first things seemed not too bad and the advice I was given was to try to tolerate any fluid if I could in the hope / expectation that it would reabsorb into the tissues. Some hope as it turned out!
I saw the surgeon for a check up two days ago and the fluid accumulation wasn't too bad. He jiggled things about a bit and - hey presto - the next day I had a "boob sized" soft jelly like lump.
Phoned for advice and - off to hospital again today where one of the doctors drained about 400ml of fluid. The procedure itself was OK but the sensations around the area are still quite odd at times and the whole thing just made me nauseous. Still - will sleep more comfortably tonight I hope. Lets hope it doesn't reaccumulate.
Marjory
Check out our article resource pages for more information on seroma and on life after mastectomy
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Well - back from hospital - both a bit shattered but getting more determined and positive with each passing minute.
Pathology result showed five discreet tumours in the breast and eight out of twenty six lymph nodes positive. Strongly HER-2 positive and strongly oestrogen receptor positive. Mixed news then. We meet our oncologist for the first time in three days and until then it looks like we've got a lot of background reading to do!
At the moment it looks like the suggested treatment will be a mix of chemotherapy and radiotherapy with herceptin and tamoxifen to follow. Chemo will be with the FEC regimen and with Taxitere included. Sounds like we know what we're talking about doesn't it, but in truth it's all so new to us that we haven't really got our head around it yet.
More to follow - at least we now know exactly the challenge we face
Wish us luck!
Gordon and Marjory
We have published several articles
about herceptin on this site and you can find them collected in our herceptin treatment archive page
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Mastectomy - What is cording?You learn new stuff all the time don't you!
Even as an experienced family doctor I can honestly say that I hadn't heard about
mastectomy related cording until after Marjory had her mastectomy. I guess that reflects the way that (in the UK at least) breast cancer patients have their care provided in a holistic way from the breast cancer centre they attend.
The senior nurse on the surgical ward chatted to Marjory about cording after her mastectomy operation. I've read up on it since and - in simple terms - here's what I've found out.
- Cording occurs as a result of the lymph glands and lymph channels being removed from your axilla region or armpit
- Cording often shows itself as a palpable tight and painful band of tissue (like a cord - hence the name) running down the arm towards the hand
- Cording can be felt at any part of the arm (Marjory had pain and tightness down the back of her arm but I've heard of other women who feel it in the forearm or around the elbow)
- Cording is a kind of soft tissue tightness usually seen in the axilla.
It can extend from the mastectomy or lumpectomy or even the drain scar down the arm to the wrist. It is painful and can sometimes recur. The pain of cording can settle in a few weeks or can last for months - Some physical therapists say that the cords can be stretched or massaged and that this can lead to an immediate improvement in range of motion and a decrease in pain. Some women say that massage is too painful to tolerate
- Cording is probably due to changes in the arm's lymph vessels and can appear six to eight weeks following surgery or even months afterwards.
- Cording usually gets better spontaneously, though you may need physiotherapy to stretch the cords and some doctors may give you antibiotics as treatment
You can read more about cording and other complications after mastectomy on the breast cancer care website or check out our mastectomy overview page for more related articles
Gordon
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Mood Swings and Things
This is weird.
The mood swings I'm having are quite like those I had after having a baby - and having had four of those I sure know what it feels like.
Just like after childbirth you're tired, you're sore but relieved that the hospital stay and the operation is over. High days and buzzy on discharge home from hospital then low for a few days after that. High again when the drain came out but now quite flat and weepy at times.
Rollercoaster isn' t the word.
Marjory
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My Hero
Meet the hero of the moment - and of course the ever present Anna.
This photo was taken exactly a week after Marjory's right sided mastectomy. Feeling below par - yup, maybe - but looking amazing.
All in all recovery has been very quick. Out of hospital after two days. Drains out in seven days. Getting slowly back to normal.
We meet with our surgical specialist for lymph node results tomorrow - fingers and everything else crossed !
Gordon
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Drains and MastectomyMarjory's mastectomy was done through one incision. Some people have two cuts - one on the chest wall and one in the armpit area.
She had two mastectomy drains in place afterwards.
The
purpose of drains after mastectomy is to drain away the fluid that can gather in the armpit region or around the scar on the chest wall. Some people after mastectomy also find that fluid gathers around the shoulder blade area on their back - this seems more common if the muscle from the back has been used for breast reconstruction at the time the mastectomy was done.
When mastectomy is done - and especially if the lymph nodes are removed from the axilla or armpit - then there is a lot of tissue fluid and lymph fluid left with no where to go. This fluid normally flows through the lymph channels but if they are cut then it can escape into the normal skin and muscle tissues.
Your surgeon will place drains under your skin after mastectomy. These drains gather up the fluid and remove it to a bottle (or bottles) that you carry around with you. Some people use a
belt clip to attach the drain to their waistband - making them more mobile. Others carry the drain in a handbag.
In Marjory's case the chest wall drain was removed after three days and she was allowed home with the armpit drain still in place. Different surgeons and different hospitals take a different view of when the drain should come out. In Marjory's case the Edinburgh Breast Unit told us that her armpit mastectomy drain could be removed when it drained less than fifty millilitres in twenty four hours - or after seven days - whichever came first. Some surgeons leave the drains in much longer. The Edinburgh unit said that they felt the risk of infection increased a bit after seven days so preferred to remove it.
As Marjory has written
elsewhere on this site - the discomfort from the mastectomy drains - was, for her at least, the most difficult thing to deal with post op. I guess everyone is different but do make sure that you are prepared for the effect that the drain can have - both physically and emotionally. Not truly severe in pain terms but the constant dragging discomfort really dragged Marjory down emotionally.
Gordon - May 2006
Read more about mastectomy problems on our mastectomy information page
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About this website
This website is aimed at all those who are dealing with breast cancer - either themselves or in their family or friendship circle.
We hope that some of what you'll find here will ease your path or lessen your worries about breast cancer treatment.
The views expressed here are our own. We are from medical and nursing backgrounds but are by no means specialists in breast cancer or in breast cancer treatment. We can only tell you what we've gone through and what we've learned along the way.
Gordon will mostly write the medical or information type articles - Marjory will mostly write the personal snippets of our story and our experiences. Sometimes we'll both contribute to the one posting.
Please don't use what's written here as a substitute for medical advice. If you need advice then seek it from your specialist, your family doctor or your breast cancer support nurse.
Good luck - visit us regularly and don't be afraid to contribute to the site by leaving your own comments
Marjory and Gordon
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Mastectomy DrainsTwo co-codamol painkillers and a glass of wine - thats all that's got me through today. Day six post op after my mastectomy and I'm at a low ebb. Tearful and feeling sorry for myself. Hate it.
I came home on day two with two drains in place - now have only the one under my armpit still in. Due out tomorrow but have stood on it by accident twice today and truly wish that I'd accidentally pulled the damn thing out!
Wasn't prepared for this - hadn't even really given the drains a thought at all - but they really are something to take into account after mastectomy. This is the only thing thats really caused me much discomfort.
The armpit drain is supposed to come out when it drains less than fifty millilitres a day - or on day seven - whichever comes sooner. Trust me to be stuck with it till day seven !!
Anyway - out tomorrow - cant wait.
MarjoryRead more about this on our
mastectomy information page
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Marjory underwent core biopsy sample taking from her breast on our first visit to the hospital.
Other sites have
more information about whats involved in breast core biopsyIn our case only one of the tumours was large enough to be felt - the others were all tiny and were only picked up on detailed ultrasound scan. Even mammograms did not show them (although this seems not to be uncommon in a woman as young as Marjory)
The radiologist doctor who did the ultrasound used the pictures on the screen to first of all inject local anesthetic around the three suspicious areas. She then used the screen pictures to guide a large hollow needle down into these lumps. Three samples were taken from each - the hollow needle taking a “core” from the suspicious area in the same way that a geologist takes a core sample from deep in the layers of the earth.
The science is all very well but - for Marjory - the process was both painful and frightening.
Still - we needed to know - and this kind of testing is more accurate and the results can be more detailed than those available from
the easier FNA test or fine needle aspirate.
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How do you forget a day like that?
Sunday morning - time to get up - and we were chatting in bed. Pleased that our recent money worries were easing and planning ahead. Out of the blue Marjory found a lump in her right breast. I felt it too but it felt smooth and mobile. At the time - like all couples we consolled ourselves with the thought that it was “only a cyst” or a simple benign lump.
She saw her family doctor the next day who arranged a referral to the Edinburgh Breast Unit - highly regarded as one of the best in Europe. The appointment came through. Six weeks waiting list! We again reassured ourselves and settled down for the wait.
Three tumours in one breastA menstrual period came and went with no change in the lump - we phoned the clinic and asked for a cancellation slot or an earlier appointment and were eventually seen on Easter Monday 2006. A consultation was followed by an ultrasound scan and we were soon back with the specialist who gave us news that just floored us completely. Marjory had not one but three suspicious looking lumps in her right breast. The largest about 1cm in size, the others much smaller.
Painful Core BiopsyCore biopsies were done that day too of all three lumps - one of them extremely painful deep in the breast near the chest wall. Marjory struggled to cope - both with the news we had just been given and with the trauma of the procedure. Nine samples in all - leaving her bruised physically and battered psychologically.
Next appointment five days away to get the results but the specialist had already warned us to expect the worst - particularly with the largest lump.
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Marjory and Gordon
Marjory and GordonWelcome to our website.
We are a husband and wife couple based near Edinburgh in Scotland. This is our weblog.
Marjory is a nurse and Gordon is a family doctor. We discovered that Marjory had breast cancer in April 2006 and decided to set up this site to share our experiences with you. Many of the breast cancer websites are excellent but there are only a few that describe the day to day experiences of the sufferer - and none that we have found that explore the issues of the sufferers partner.
Please feel free to comment or to share your own experiences. We'd love to hear from you.
It's our hope that this site will grow into a unique resource for those with breast cancer.
Please visit from time to time.
Marjory and Gordon - May 2006
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