Tits Up

Carole Paterson

Description

It only takes seconds for your life to change.It's said that everybody knows someone who is battling, orhas battled, cancer. In a breathtakingly personal account,Tits Upisthe story of how Carole Paterson underwent breast cancer treatment from startto finish. Carole was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer, whichaffects just 15% ofpatients. To keep her mind focused during treatment, shedocumented her journey day by day, to create an easy to read commentary on lifeas a cancer patient. Focusing more on the personal side, the book is writtenwith the sole purpose of reaching other cancer patients with the message: youare notalone.Taking the reader by the hand, Carole leads us through everystage of her treatment: chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy,including a daily diary during chemotherapy to share thoughts and worries asshe progressed.While it doesn't make light of the diagnosis, thebook attempts tofind light in the darkness where it can by sharing some of thehumorous moments Carole experienced, as well as wedding preparations,shielding through the pandemic, and her focus on the future. In the firm beliefthat knowledge is power, Carole hopes to give the newly diagnosed a wealth ofinformationthat could help to make their journey a little easier to navigate.Companion, friend, advisor, shoulder, it's all of these andmore. Intended to be a book that reaches into a nightmare and helps guide theway through, Tits Up is one that we hope we will never need, until we do.Brutally honest, and written with a blend of sensitivity and candour,TitsUprepresents strength ofspirit for both the author and the audience sheis trying to reach.

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781803139470
• Langue: English

Extrait

Copyright © 2022 Carole Paterson

The moral right of the author has been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.


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ISBN 978 1803139 470

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.


Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd





This book is dedicated to all my family and friends
who came out of their comfort zones to support me
on my cancer journey. Also to my dad who sadly
passed away just before the journey started.
I know he would have been there for me too.


Contents
Introduction
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thanks


Introduction
When I first received the diagnosis that I had breast cancer, I was devastated. Then when I started to read about Triple Negative Breast Cancer, which affects around 15% of breast cancer patients (including me), I was terrified! It was a very scary time. I really wanted to find out about what the next few months had in store, but I was frightened to search for the answers. I had to do it bit by bit. It was like having a scab; I knew it was going to hurt or upset me, but I couldn’t stop picking. The more I found out about TNBC the worse it got, so by the time I started my treatment I just thought my time was essentially up.
However, as my treatment started and I began to learn more from my care team and experience things first-hand, I realised that everything was far from negative. Obviously, I’d have much rather been cancer-free, but my cards were already dealt so I just had to play them as best I could. So, to keep my mind occupied and my thoughts positive, I decided to document my journey from day one so that other people in my position didn’t need to pick scabs… unless they wanted to.
Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is an uncommon variant of the disease, which is harder to treat because of the limitations with standard breast cancer drugs. Triple negative cancer cells don’t have receptors for oestrogen or progesterone hormones or for the protein HER-2, so they don’t respond to many conventional breast cancer treatments. TNBC is also aggressive, has a high recurrence rate within the first five years, and lower survival statistics overall.
Being given that information at the start of my treatment was daunting, and after embellishing the facts with dubious snippets I’d gleaned from the internet, I was despondent to say the least. But documenting my voyage, day by day, gave me a focus. It was strangely therapeutic. Cancer treatment can take over your life, but being given an opportunity to take back that life from this terrible disease is amazing. I felt that my role in the treatment process was to stay healthy, both physically and mentally, and to remain positive. Writing helped me to do that, and I hope that anybody who reads this book feels a little bit more in control of the situation they’ve been thrown into, whether that be as a patient, a loved one, or a friend or colleague who wants to offer support. A cancer diagnosis doesn’t just affect the patient; the impact can radiate out to cover a very wide network.
As I began to get used to the weekly regime of chemotherapy, and the way it affected my body and brain, I became acutely aware of how lucky I was. Lucky to have a wonderful family who were there to help in whatever way they could; lucky to have a strong and loyal network of friends who offered support from day one; lucky that I wasn’t a sole breadwinner whose contribution to the household was vital; lucky that I was otherwise physically fit and mentally strong. Above all, lucky that I was being given the opportunity of having treatment. Not everybody gets the chance.
There is no doubt that cancer takes its toll on many aspects of life. The physical changes to the body and the effects on mental health are the big ones, but cancer can also have a massive effect on finances, employment, family dynamics, friendships and much more. My personal cancer journey brought up many of these issues, so wherever possible I’ve written about them. My views entirely; take them or leave them.
My cancer journey had an added dimension: if all went well, my partner and I were going to get married at the end of it! Planning a wedding can be stressful at the best of times but add cancer into the mix and it’s a totally different ball game.
Without doubt, 2019 was a horrific year for me and my family. What kept me going was the thought that ‘next year has got to be better’. However, just when I thought that nothing else could possibly go wrong, the whole world was thrown into devastating turmoil by COVID-19, the Coronavirus which eventually killed over 160,000 UK residents and over six million people across the globe (totals correct at time of writing).
Like cancer, the Coronavirus didn’t discriminate. Rich, poor, weak, strong, young, old – it took whomever it wanted. A tragedy by itself, the virus unfortunately created an undercurrent of medical issues that will no doubt surface in years to come. Through the restrictions of national lockdown and basic public fear, it became apparent to the medical world that many people were not getting vital cancer symptoms checked. Referrals to cancer units were down to a fraction of their previous levels, which will mean that many cancers have been left to progress to later stages which may be more difficult to treat.
Shockingly, again due to the pandemic, many cancer treatments were purposely put on hold as the risk of contracting Covid -19 through visiting hospital was deemed greater than leaving the cancer to develop. With thousands of people in the UK affected by this, and hundreds of thousands across the globe, the medical professions will have a mammoth task to clear the backlog and get patients back on their treatment track.
Everybody’s cancer pathway is different. There are numerous variants of cancer and a myriad ways to control or cure the disease. But generally, there are three main areas of treatment: chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. Some people require just one, some two, or as in my case, all three. I’ve got friends who’ve won their personal battles with cancer and I’ve got wonderful memories of fabulous friends who sadly weren’t that lucky.
Cancer isn’t pleasant; the treatment is gruelling and invasive, and it takes over your life and the lives of your loved ones for many months. You may end up bald, you may put weight on through steroids and low activity levels or you may lose it through sickness, but ask yourself, ‘Does it really matter?’ Of course, it doesn’t. You just need to come out the other side and get on with whatever life has in store. Life is amazing, and after tackling an issue as big as cancer, you realise just how precious each day is.
So welcome to my cancer story; an unashamedly personal record of my journey through breast cancer treatment.


One
Today is Thursday 9th May 2019; a strange, surreal day. This morning I was diagnosed with aggressive Triple Negative Breast Cancer (stage 3, grade 2, invasive ductal carcinoma of right breast, ER negative, PR negative, HER-2 negative, to be exact). Sounds scary. This afternoon we booked our wedding!
Are we mad? I hope not! The date is set for six months from now: Friday 1st November. At this moment in time, I’ve no idea if it’s achievable, but it seems ages away, so we’re going to give it a go; it’s something to aim for. I have no real experience of cancer treatment. I just know that everybody is unique, and there are lots of treatment packages which affect people in different ways. And after all, six months is a long time!
We weren’t being flippant with the diagnosis or tempting fate when we booked the wedding. The appointment with the venue wedding planner had been booked for three weeks; well before I’d even been to the breast care unit to undergo initial checks. We’d decided to arrange a low-key wedding so that we could end the year on a high note. In January my dad had passed away, which was a big, horrible shock for the family, and we are all still grieving and trying to come to terms with not having him around.
I’d been to my GP towards the end of April, to get an initial check, and she had referred me to the breast care unit. At the time I was hopeful that the pain I was getting in my right breast would turn out to be a cyst or something hormonal. The thickened area of my breast had been with me for over twenty years. I’d had emergency mammograms, ultrasound scans and three-monthly check-ups in the past. Around fifteen years ago, I was so concerned that I paid privately for yet another mammogram and was treated so badly by the private