Ann’s Story

Hello, I am Ann, and this is my story.

I first found a lump whilst having a shower one morning, I was on holiday at the time therefore couldn’t do anything about it at the time.

Like most people, I tried to put it to the back of my mind and enjoy my holiday, but there was always a constant worry, especially as I couldn’t speak to my GP until I got home. I knew I had a routine mammogram a few months earlier which had not picked anything unusual up and hoped therefore that it wasn’t anything serious.

Upon my return I contacted my GP straight away and explained the urgency of my appointment, I was fortunate as they arranged for me to see a practice Nurse the following day, who was lovely. She was wonderful and arranged an urgent referral to the Primrose Breast Care centre.

As I work at Derriford Hospital I got an early appointment so that it wouldn’t impact on my working day. I had all my work stuff with me assuming I would be going in afterward, but I didn’t…

After spending several hours in the Primrose Centre and receiving various tests, I was later told that it was likely that I had breast cancer. I was completely shocked as I wasn’t expecting this at all, I ask the Consultant how he knew that as I am the sort of person who wants to know everything! He explained to me about the characteristics of the lump and why he thought it was breast cancer.

I felt numb and in complete disbelief. How could this happen to me? This type of thing happens to other people, not me!

The waiting period between getting the final results were awful. If I could change something it would be that results were given quicker.

I found myself googling (as you do!) everything and driving myself mad reading about every possible scenario.

I have to say that everyone I saw in Primrose was lovely, at both appointments everyone was very warm and friendly. At my second appointment found out that I had invasive ductal breast cancer grade 2 - Oestrogen positive and HER2 negative. Apparently, that was good, and was told it had been found early and that breast cancer is treatable if found early.

I was given the option of surgery plus Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy or just surgery and Radiotherapy. I made the decision that I wanted Chemotherapy because I felt that if it came back or progressed, I would kick myself that I hadn’t used every option available to me.

I consider myself lucky in some ways as my recovery post-surgery was fine. The worst thing for me was not being able to drive. My Mum came to stay with me, and we enjoyed some Mother and Daughter time.

If I am honest, I wasn’t very good at doing my exercises and I think this affected me later on. So, my advice would be to do your exercises even if you feel your mobility is fine.

I didn’t feel too bad with Chemotherapy, I had good days and bad days. I made myself go out every day with my dogs, nothing strenuous although I did find myself getting slower and slower as treatment progressed.

I was lucky to go to an outreach clinic that is just over the road from me. The Nurses there were brilliant and inspirational. I was able to have the same Nurse for all my cycles which was great – For me, Radiotherapy was the worse.

The worst part of treatment for me was the antioestrogen medication, which I was supposed to take for 5 – 10 years. I did have an extreme reaction to it. I managed to take it for 3 years but then decided to stop. Quality of life is just as important to me as longevity. A personal choice, of course.

I realise now that I was very silly as I decided to go back to work too soon and therefore, I got very fatigued. My advice to anyone would be to not run before you can walk. It is not a good idea to go back to work unless you have a lot of support. Like most, I was worried about money and that if I stayed off too long, I wouldn’t want to go back at all!

I am now aware that my husband struggled although he didn’t show it at the time. He was incredibly supportive, as were all my family. My husband was not sure how to deal with me! I was trying to carry on as normal because that is my way. He would watch me and think, she really should be in bed! I think being on the outside looking in is worse than going through it, he felt helpful in so many ways but really, he was wonderful.

Going through treatment has most definitely changed how I now see the world, I realise that life is short, if you want something, go for it, if you want to go somewhere, then go. I would say that I have also become more direct and tend to say what I feel, it doesn’t always go down well though.

After treatment, I promised myself to be less stressed, to learn how to balance my work life better, I, therefore, returned to work part-time and ended up retiring earlier than expected, 2 years ago.

During treatment, I had a lightbulb moment. I spent a lot of time looking for products for sensitive skin and suddenly thought ‘I can make this myself. And just like that, No Frills Cosmetics was born! I now manufacture moisturiser formulated for sensitive skin.

It has been 8 years since I was diagnosed and 7 years since I finished active treatment. I have been back to the Primrose Centre twice to get lumps to check out but luckily, they were fine.