I was diagnosed August 10th 2023 with TNBC and the BRCA2 gene which was shocking as I am a single mother of 2 girls, so the mental impact of this was challenging. I went through 8 rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy which ended in March 2024 and then had a double mastectomy in April 2024.
From all angles this experience has been extremely lonely. The people in my life have failed to educate themselves so conversations tend to not happen as I’ve looked relatively well throughout the chemotherapy treatment I was treated like I had flu. I did everything by myself which I didn’t expect. Post cancer my life has changed I am still often times lonely and isolated but since sharing my experience I have found some community and also open doors to experiences I’d never expected to have.
My story is so unique because I didn’t find a lump. After already having gynae issues I had a hysterectomy at 32 so was no longer able to have smears I went for a medical review and my GP said 1 side felt more swollen so I was referred just under the notion of getting used to a new type of screening as I couldn’t smear. The scan showed a tiny lump just under 2cm round and smooth and it presented as a fibroadenoma, plus I had no family breast cancer history.
The nurse at the time was absolutely amazing and I was happy but she suggested I do a biopsy just to keep it on the system in case it bothered me The biopsy came back as Breast Cancer. I just finished immunotherapy in December and I am waiting to have an oophorectomy which will hopefully happen this year.
