Polly’s story - breast cancer

Polly was 32 when she found a lump in her breast. She was young and was not worried that it was anything serious. She felt really well and there was no history of breast cancer in the family. She had just bought a new flat in London with her boyfriend and was planning to marry next year. Breast cancer happened to other people, not her.

The local GP told her it was probably nothing, young women find lumps in their breasts all the time. They are usually nothing to worry about. She was referred to the local hospital to have a mammogram, where a picture of the inside of the breast was taken. The results came back a week later.

Polly went to see the doctor and was told there were a few dark dots on the mammograms that indicated there were growths in the breast. They could just be lumps of calcification or they could be something more. Polly needed to have a biopsy so the pathologist could have a closer look at the cells under the microscope. For the first time Polly was worried they could be cancerous.

The biopsy was carried out, and the next day Polly found out she had breast cancer. She was told that she would need surgery to remove the lump and as the cancer was quite spread out, maybe the entire breast. Suddenly there were decisions to be made and Polly felt entirely helpless about making the right ones.

The oncologist discussed all the options with Polly. There was even talk that the other breast should be removed to stop the spread of the cancer. After carefully looking at the treatment options it was decided that removal of the cancerous breast offered the best outcome. Polly wanted her breast to be reconstructed as soon as possible to help her cope with the removal of her breast.

Polly couldn’t believe how well she felt before the surgery, she didn’t feel like someone with cancer. The surgeons were all fantastic and reassured Polly that they would look after her whilst she was under the anaesthetic.

Polly woke up with her cancerous breast removed and a new breast made out of a bag of saline. The surgery had gone well and it wasn’t too painful, although the drainage tubes hurt a bit when she moved. Polly stayed in hospital for the first few days of her recovery. She found sleeping was difficult in a strange place with weird noises but the nurses were great and looked after her. When she peeked at her new breast she was pleased to see that the nipple had been saved and her breast looked real.

Three days after surgery the Doctor came to see Polly. She was ready to go home and be with her boyfriend and family and had almost forgotten about the lab report on her cancer. The report had come back, and the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes. The cancer was detected in seven of the 15 lymph nodes that were removed, over half her lymph nodes were cancerous. Polly knew she now needed chemotherapy.

Polly talked to other people who had been through chemotherapy and felt reassured that she could get through it. Two weeks after surgery the chemotherapy began. Polly had a portable catheter fitted in to her chest where she received the chemotherapy once a week. She found that she could deal with the chemo treatment, it wasn’t that bad. She was incredibly tired and had a funny metallic taste in her mouth, but the symptoms were irritating rather than debilitating.

Her eyes were often dry and puffy, she got a sore mouth with ulcers and sensitive teeth. Her fingernails were weak and broke a lot and she often had heartburn, nausea, leg cramps and aching joints. The worse thing for Polly was when her hair fell out. Her scalp itched like mad and she had to shave the rest of the hair off to stop the irritation. Polly chose to wear a bandanna to keep her head warm and stop people staring at her.

The chemo lasted once a week for four months. At the end of the treatment Polly was exhausted and her body was tired. She didn’t think that she could stand much more of the chemotherapy drugs. She was glad when it was over but was very aware that she would always be on the look out for symptoms that the cancer had returned.

For the first few months she would dream about nothing else and worried constantly about the cancer coming back. So far all her fears have turned out to be false alarms. Polly is now planning her wedding to James and looks forward to the rest of her life. Polly relied on her family and friends to help her through the difficult times and is now so glad she can plan a big party to thank them.