Yearly Archives: 2015

Follow-up Op

If you’ve had reconstruction as part of your surgery, it’s likely you’ll end up back in hospital for a further operation. It’s not always possible to get it right first time. Our bodies are complex things, not symmetrical or exact and

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Thinking Ahead

Embed from Getty Images “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin When you’re confronted with your own mortality you start to think about the inevitability of your own death. There

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Alcohol & Tamoxifen

View image | gettyimages.com Recently I’ve noticed an intolerance to alcohol.  Feeling particularly nauseous if I have more than a couple of glasses of wine. I’ve never been a big drinker and can go for weeks, or even months, without

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25 years on!

Last week I met someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer 25 years ago.  She’s still here!  Looks amazing – has a wonderful family and husband and is proof that cancer can and is being beaten, day by day, year by

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Victoria Derbyshire’s Breast Cancer Diary

Victoria Derbyshire has recently publicised the video diary of her cancer operation.  She shares very similar thought and emotions to my own experience, although I wouldn’t have been sitting up in bed just a few hours after my operation doing a

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Tour De Cymru …

Just under two months to go until I’ll be cycling 225 miles in 7 days from Cardiff to Caernarfon along Sustrans Route 8, while pedalling up (and down) 5000m of ascent. I’ve been in training on my new bike for a few months now

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Words Used About Cancer

Battle, survivor, suffering, brave … These are a few of the words used about cancer and to describe people with cancer.  You may hear these being applied to you if you’ve been diagnosed with cancer and you’re currently going through treatment. You

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Lumps and bumps – get them checked

Every woman should know how to check her breasts, just as every man should know how to check his testicles (and breasts too). You know you’re own body better than anyone else, so being able to notice when something is

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The Jolie Effect

Angelina Jolie has been in the press again to tell her story of elective surgery to prevent cancer. First she had a double mastectomy two years ago when she learned she had the BRCA gene mutation.  Now she’s had a her ovaries

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This time last year … radiotherapy

  This time last year I’d just had my last radiotherapy session. My final day of lying on the cold and uncomfortable platform with my arms up over my head.  It wasn’t that bad really, just the room was pretty cool (for

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