The Truth About Pigskin...

At a visit to see yet another consultant surgeon, I learn some pretty interesting facts:

My tumour most probably had HER2 cells in it 7 years ago (before they started to automatically test for this). If they had known this then, I would have definitely had chemotherapy and herceptin - which would have lessened the chance of the cancer coming back.

My breast reconstruction method (using the back muscle as a way of making a new breast) is now obselete. They realised that there were too many problems with this, in that women complained of back pain and aches after the op. Now they just use a layer of pigskin on top of an implant which apparently is just as effective and creates a very realistic looking breast. Grrrrrrrr

Oligometastates is a state somewhere between primary breast cancer and widespread disease. It is where the spread is confined to only a few sites, thus making it easier to operate or control. This is what I have.

My tumour is very sensitive to chemotherapy - which is obviously a good thing after all the nasty side effects I've had to endure over the past couple of months.

The fact that there are lesions in my liver is an indication of how the cancer might/add spread in future. They think it might recur, but says that there are lots of treatments to try on this.

Lots of information eh ? Some good, some not so good. Ideally I would love to be cured, failing this a very long remission - somewhere between 10 and 20 years (25 plus would be a bonus) would be the next best thing.  No point thinking about what should've happened in the past. The present is all we have.