Why I blog about my Breast Cancer
As you know, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in November 2015. I made the decision to blog about my breast cancer diagnosis immediately and it’s the most personal subject I’ve ever shared on my blog.
Since the diagnosis, I’ve undergone successful surgery (a lumpectomy) and 7 months of chemo and radiation.
I’ve blogged about how I felt receiving the diagnosis, my treatment plan, the various stages of treatment and how it has changed our lives.
I wanted to share with you how a breast cancer diagnosis played out and to encourage other women to be vigilant in checking with breasts for changes. Very luckily, I found my lump early on and so far, I have a good outlook. I might not be so lucky had I ignored the lump.
As well as raising awareness of breast cancer, I had another reason to share my story.
At my diagnosis they said my cancer, Triple Negative Breast Cancer, is very rare. Rare and aggressive. Fun. In fact, only about 15% of breast cancers are this one.
So, as most people would, I booked a consultation with Dr Google to find out more. It was bad news. Really bad news. There were no good news stories about my kind of cancer. Everything I found was filled with negative language and a doomed outcome. Even the ones that started well!
From a rational perspective I knew that the women who survived were not spending time in forums, chatting about how healthy and happy they were. They were out living their lives. However it didn’t help me. I wanted reassurance. I wanted a good news story. Just one would have been enough.
So I decided to try to be that good news story myself. And I blogged about it – the good and the bad. I’ve tried to be honest every step of the way, especially when I felt sick, alone and depressed at times. But I’ve also written about the opportunities I’ve had since my diagnosis, the people I’ve met and the amazing support I’ve received.
I want to provide a place for women to come to after a diagnosis to find a positive account of a cancer journey.
Right now, I am cancer free. I’ve had successful surgery, we do not think the cancer spread and I had chemo and radiation just in case it did. Of course if a teeny tiny cancerous cell did escape the net (little fekker) then who knows what will happen in the future.
I don’t obsess over that any more. Not right now anyway and as they say, you have to live one day at a time.
You know how I make myself feel better about the chance of that teeny tiny cell escaping though? Well I think for all I know, I could get run over by a bus in the future but I won’t waste time obsessing over the potential chance of that bus sealing my fate! It just helps me feel better, in a weird way! You do what works.
So right now, my story is a happy story. Cancer and chemo have been the hardest things I’ve ever faced in my life and I hope I never have to again. I wish no-one had to.
However, if you’ve found my blog because you’ve been diagnosed with cancer yourself, please know that you are not alone.
There are so many resources available to you. Please ask your Doctor, your surgeon, your nurses, your family and friends. Contact your local Cancer charities. You will really benefit from at the resources available to you.
I support Cancer Council NSW and many others. The help and support they have given to me has blown me away.
If you’ve had a diagnosis for yourself or a family member or friend has, you’re not alone in this.
None of us can predict what the future holds but I do intend to continue to face my diagnosis with positivity when I can.
Thank you so much for following my journey and for all of your support – I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.
If you want to read more about my posts on Breast Cancer, including what to say and what NOT to say to someone with cancer, click here.
Read next:
- Cancer Council NSW Podcast
- What to Say to Someone who has Cancer
- I have Breast Cancer
- My Triple Negative Breast Cancer diagnosis and treatment
- One year after my Breast Cancer diagnosis
- A Gift Idea for Cancer Patients
- 5 Gift Ideas for Cancer Patients
- Thank You for your Support
This is a very informative post. My story goes like this, i had breast cancer stage IV and i undertook 3 chemo sessions in two years to no avail and the tumor were still there and it even grew bigger and i was so scared which left me with the option of seeking an alternative cure which permanently changed my life for good and saved me from the cold hands of death. I read about Dr Aleta’s herbal medicine treatment which can cure breast cancer permanently without recurring. I got her contact and placed an order for the medicine which i took according to instructions and today i am cancer free. Well do not lose hope of finding a cure because there is a cure, you too can reach the doctor directly on (aletedwin @ gmail. com) for advise, and more information about the medicine. Happy new year.
I think you are really brave to blog about it and I think blogging is very therapeutic and therefore it is excellent for you to deal with things xxx
Thank you lovely – it’s really helping me :) x
You’re a voice Mim, that can touch many others who are in a similar place and make them feel far less alone. x
Thank you so so much lovely x
You are amazing and I love your reasons for blogging about it. I hadn’t thought about it that way. I have personal reasons why it’s hard for me to blog as much or as openly about it as you do. Besides no one reads my blog anyway. But you are an inspiration. I also bought the magazine with your article in it today. I agree with you; you have to stay in the present and live each day as it comes. No one knows what can happen. Cancer can happen to anyone at any time, so we’re no more in danger of it than anyone else at this point. When I was mid treatment one lady we know just died suddenly of aneurysm. Just like that. So we’ve been giving a second chance. And I’m so glad I got to know you. Keep on being awesome. xo
YOU are amazing lovely! I’m so glad to have met you and I read your blog religiously – you’re the funniest writer I know!! It’s so true though – anything could happen to anyone at any time and of course there are women who were not as lucky as us and have a different future ahead, and I’d never be blase about that. I need to focus on the here and now, not worry about what might never happen x x
Hi Mim, your positive outlook is amazing and a credit to you. Last week my Dad underwent quite a big op for prostrate cancer that was literally picked up two weeks previously. It was an aggressive form, but was caught early (credit to both my Dad who went to the Doctor within 48 hours of thinking something wasn’t right – he wasn’t thinking cancer at that time though – and the Doctor who never gave up looking).
Things are looking good although it’s too early to tell for sure, but as you said there is no point worrying about things we can’t control. We will take each step as it comes. Together. As a family.
Sharing your story not only could make a difference for an early diagnosis, but will certainly give comfort and support to someone going through similar.
Wishing you a long and cancer free life.
xx
Thank you so so much Debbie and I’m sending you, your Dad and your family so much love. I’m so happy that he was proactive and that his Doctor was too :) x
Keep powering on and being awesome x
Aww thank you lovely – you are awesome :) x