I was called for my routine mammogram in 12^th December 2007 for my 5 yearly check up.

We went away for a long Christmas Holiday and upon returning home on the 2^nd January there were two letters waiting for me saying there had been a problem with my mammogram and they wanted me to make an urgent appointment at Brighton Hospital as they needed to do some further checks. I’d had this before so I wasn’t too worried. I was seen by Dr Ruben on the 7^th January. He said that there had been something suspicious on the mammogram and I needed further investigations. I had several biopsies taken and another mammogram and an ultrasound done and was told to come back in two weeks for the results. I went back on the 23^rd January 2008 it was a very long two weeks. I was told that they had discovered cancer in my left breast. I was extremely shocked as I never expected to hear that result.

The Doctor said as I lived in Battle he would refer me to the Conquest Hospital under the care of Miss Shah. The appointment came through for the 28^th January 2008. Miss Shah filled me with confidence. She said that the mass was about 31mm and we agreed a total left mastectomy and node clearance as the safest procedure. The well organised machine leapt into action and I was booked in for my op on the 15^th February. I must admit to feeling scared but I was soon put at ease by Miss Shah’s hunky Registrar Matt. It’s amazing what a beneficial effect a young man has!

I was in a 6 bedded bay and there was a good mix of patients who helped pass the time. The surgery wasn’t as bad as I expected, in fact almost pain free just the drain causing bother. I was soon up and running around, Matt used to come and visit us at night and our bay was full of twittering females! I was delighted to hear that he was the last person to hold my boob, we all chuckled.

Miss Shah said that as they had found my cancer quickly and it hadn’t reached my lymph nodes (although they did a total lymph clearance) I would not need radiotherapy or chemotherapy. I felt so fortunate others weren’t so lucky. I had to go back to the ward frequently as I had a build up of post surgery seroma that was regularly drained by Matt still it was nice to see him!

I had lost my elder sister to breast cancer in 2000 so I must admit I was rather scared that I would not survive it. My husband was so supportive. Selfishly I didn’t give a thought how he was coping I was just thinking of me and how I was affected. With hindsight he needed much more support than I did, it was so hard for him to keep positive for me as he didn’t have anyone to share his fears with. We cried many a night together it was a scary time.

I joined the 1066 Pink Ladies and immediately felt part of the group. I was so heartened to hear other ladies case histories and I enjoyed the meetings.

I could never get on with the ugly great prosthesis provided by the hospital although they told me that was what I looked like. To me it was huge ugly and plastic. I bought a "been a boob" from Nicola Jane much lighter and more comfortable and suitable for me. I was always self conscious of my loss and always worried it was obvious to everyone, I discussed this with Miss Shah. She said I was an ideal candidate for reconstruction as I had not had to have any other therapy. She put me in touch with the breast care nurses and then with Mr Pickford who was the plastic surgeon from The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead who did breast reconstructions.

Mr Pickford said that my good breast was too big and droopy (I said natural fall) he said he couldn’t rebuild me one like that (phew!) so he suggested he did a reduction on that side then follow it by a Diep Flap reconstruction (which incorporates a tummy tuck as the new breast is built from surplus tummy fat) this seemed the perfect choice for me as I had a load of surplus tummy fat hanging around doing nothing and I did want to be reconstructed using my own natural skin and fat if possible.

I had the "good" breast reduced in January 2010 I was in hospital just two nights. I was really delighted with the result, it was perfect! Neat and pert I couldn’t have designed it better myself. I just need another one like that.

With great excitement I was booked in for my reconstruction on the 14^th March 2010. Whilst I was under the anaesthetic Mr Pickford made the incision and discovered that my tummy did not have an adequate supply of blood vessels to the flap due to a previous hysterectomy where the surgeon had cut them all. He had to quickly revise the operation using the one decent vessel he found. Mr P decided to do a pedicle flap op, he later said he hadn’t done this operation for ten years as it was an out of date procedure. This meant tunnelling the flap under my skin and into position without cutting the only available blood vessel. Under normal circumstances he would have disconnected the blood supply lifted the flap and using micro surgery "replumbed" it into position but he did not want to disturb my one usable vessel more than he had too.

Coming around in recovery he was there, so concerned, he told me that he did not think the operation was a great success but the next 48 hours would tell. They put me under a "bear hugger" to keep warm as the flap needed help Later I was taken from recovery to the "Step Down Unit" this is a unit of 4 beds where there is constant monitoring. I was introduced to the Staff Nurse who would look after me. I’d landed on my feet, Jason was a young blonde blue eyed lad in his twenties. He kept me company each night. He was a fantastic nurse and was so caring.

During this time I needed a transfusion of two units of blood and then fluids to help me. I have naturally low blood pressure and pulse this worried them.

During the day another team rolled into action. It was wonderful care.

After 4 days in the step down unit I was transferred into the next bay of 4 beds as I didn’t need quite so much observation.

When Mr Pickford later came to look at the flap he said that sadly it looked as if half of it hadn’t survived as it had turned black, he asked if I would consider leech therapy. I agreed as I felt it could only be beneficial so I had a week of leeches sucking out the bad black blood trying to get a good flow of nice red stuff, quite interesting if you are not too squeamish as some times after they had fed their fill they dropped off and wriggled down into the bed, one did a runner across the floor, the trainee nurses didn’t like that! I named the leeches after politicians. Tony Blair was a particularly good feeder but Gordon Brown wasn’t interested.

Mr P said that they were making a case study of me due to the failure and arranged for photos every step of the way, they had a plastic team case conference to see if things could have been handled better and if any lessons could be learnt from my experience.

After a week of the leeches Mr P decided to do what he called "a tidy up operation" which cleared away all the dead black skin and stretched the good skin over to form another good breast. I did not think there was sufficient material there. What a magic man, so very clever, there when I came round was a good new boob swollen and tender but a recognisable small breast at last! I might need another op later to get symmetry but I’m not in the least worried.

Mr P decided as I had been so patient for 14 days I’d had long enough being hospitalised and said I would do better at home. The tummy tuck had gone well. He had taken off all my surplus belly and midriff fat and given me a wonderful flat profile. (I’ve been told since by Graham his Registrar that as Mr Pickford felt I had a bad experience with the breast surgery he gave me the best tummy tuck ever, the type he reserved for his private patients).

The whole experience gave me total confidence with The Queen Vic at East Grinstead from the cleaners up to the top. The anaesthetic, surgical and nursing teams were wonderful and made the whole experience totally trauma free even for a wimp like me. I’m now slowly healing and my body does more each day. I’ve learnt not to push myself too far. I don’t regret the procedure for a moment and highly recommend the operation and I am delighted to be in proportion at last. On my latest appointment with Mr Pickford it was agreed that I would have an expander inserted (a sort of balloon) and a regular inflation to get my new breast to the correct size.

This was done in February 2011 quite a straightforward procedure if a little "uncomfortable" when it’s blown up to oversize to allow for the "natural fall" (Mr P likes this phrase – as droop isn’t what I admit too) It’s wonderful to be able to fill a bra with ME rather than that uncomfortable prosthetic one. The pretty underwear will come out this summer – I even tried on a bikini and you can’t see the join!

Later on the expander will be removed and a smaller silicon implant will be inserted – stitch me up yet again and later Mr P will do a small op to make a nipple just a little cross made and stitched up to make a nobbly bit> When that settles down it can then be tattooed to make an areola, the cherry on the cake! - Watch this space!

PAT'S STORY

In November 1999, I discovered a lump in my left breast. This didn’t come as much of a surprise as I’d experienced lumpy breasts from my early 20s, and had had a couple of small benign lumps removed previously. I went along to my GP to have it checked out and he suggested that I have an appointment at the Conquest Hospital where Mr Khoury could check it over properly.

I attended the clinic, without any real worries because of my previous experiences, so was rather taken back when I was told that the lump in my left breast was ok, but they were a little worried about the one in my right breast. I hadn’t even realised that there was one there, even when I was shown where it was I still had a job to locate it! However I was also told not to worry because it was probably ok. An appointment was made for me to have an ultrasound scan to check things over further.

So confident was I that everything would be ok, that I attended the ultrasound appointment on my own, so imagine my shock and horror when I was told that the lump in my right breast could very well be cancerous. I don’t remember how I drove home that day and found it very difficult when I arrived home to put on a brave face, until some of our young youth club members at our house at the time. Had gone home I had to have several other tests spread out over the following weeks to try and clarify whether the tumour was cancerous, or not, each one came back inconclusive– it was agonising waiting for each appointment, I’m so glad to hear that these tests are now carried out in one day where possible. All the uncertainty took us over Christmas and the Millenium New Year, our celebrations were somewhat subdued.

During my hospital visits I was introduced to Breast Care Nurse, Pam Shadbolt who reassured both my husband and I all along the way and was always there for us, the support was fantastic. Towards the end of January I was admitted into hospital to have the lumps removed from both breasts. Following this I was told that the lump in my left breast was benign, but that there were cancerous cells around the one in my right breast and they would need to operate again to remove further tissue. My husband and I had already spoken about what might happen next and were both in full agreement that it would be best to remove the whole breast and do away with any further risk, so I had my right breast and some lymph nodes removed in February. This wasn’t the awful operation I had imagined it to be, not even that painful really, perhaps it had all been made easier for me because Pam had suggested I attended the local support group, where I met the most fantastic people who really helped to lift my spirits and feel positive. I will always remember the kindness of one member who had given me her telephone number. Two days before my op I rang her, she too had had a mastectomy, and I asked lots of what I thought silly questions, she immediately invited me round for a coffee. Whilst I was there she showed me her prosthesis, and after I’d questioned her as to what I might look like after the op, she offered to show me her scar, I was amazed at the simple white line across her chest and came away from her home much more confident about the operation.

After my mastectomy, there was some concern about cancerous cells that had not shown up on any of the tests carried out, and I was asked to have a MRI scan to confirm that there were in fact no cancerous cells in the other breast. More worries, but luckily nothing showed up in the scan and so on March 31^st 2000 I was able to start my chemotherapy.

I had six doses of FEC. I imagined having chemotherapy being the most awful thing to experience, and so was pleasantly surprised to find that I was never sick, the thing I’d dreaded the most, and that after a couple of doses I could plan out my life around the treatments. As I previously mentioned my husband and I ran a Church youth group at the time, we continued to do this throughout the treatment, which was wonderful for my husband, it put a sort of normality back into our lives, we attended a pop concert, had days out and I even went on a residential school trip to London for a week – although not as a leader as in previous years.

I did lose my hair, which I must admit I did find very upsetting, I found the worse part was actually losing it. When it had gone it was easier to cope with. I bought a wig and with fear and trepidation wore it into school, "I don’t like your new hairstyle Miss" one child said. "That ain’t a new hairstyle, that’s a wig," answered another; I took a deep breath, and then admitted that it was, explaining as delicately the situation as I could. It was the best thing I could have done, after the initial reaction, no-one bothered about it. In fact I have several amusing wig stories from this time, it helps to laugh.

Following my chemotherapy I had three weeks radiotherapy at Maidstone. Again something I’d dreaded, but all went without a hitch and I was lucky enough to have different friends offer to drive me to Maidstone each day which helped out enormously as my husband didn’t have to take time off work and there was a petrol shortage on!! My appointments were mid day, the trips became more social, as we stopped at a pub for lunch on the way home.

I returned to work October 2000, I took things slowly, but I noticed that at each school holiday I needed to rest a little less and my energy was returning.

Because of the type of cancer that I had, and the fact that I was told that there was a chance, albeit slim, that it could occur in my other breast I opted to have my left breast removed 2 years later. I have never looked back, or been tempted to have reconstructive surgery and am completely happy with life.