Speaker • Author • Storyteller
Speaker • Author • Storyteller
The Blog
Scanxiety
I'd never heard of the word scanxiety until I was diagnosed with breast cancer and started talking to the breast cancer patient community on Twitter.
Waiting
I've just come back from a fabulous few days in Switzerland, and got to spend time with my family over Christmas.
Quantity or quality?
This time last year I was recovering from my mastectomy and reconstruction, and I still can't believe how much my life has changed in the year that followed.
All I want is a bra
I'm still off work at the moment - waiting for things to fall in to place so I can be re-skilled before being let loose on live patients again, and that means a lot of time at home during the day, and I might watch the odd Friends repeat every now and again just to pass the time.
Know your rights
A couple of weeks ago I hosted a tweetchat for Macmillan to help people with cancer learn about their rights when they go back to work.
Work and Cancer
I'm about to start returning to work, and I have to say I'm a little nervous. It's going to be incredibly tough to go back into the breast cancer environment having had breast cancer myself.
The Big Pink
Ever since I was a teenager, I've had an aversion to the colour pink. Now before you panic, I wasn't traumatised as a child, I just didn't think it suited me.
Giving something back
It's been a while since I last blogged. I guess I just needed a couple of months to mentally recover after all my treatment had finished. But now I'm back, and there's a lot to catch up on.
Discharged
I can't believe that it's almost a year since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A lot has happened in that time.
Let’s talk about sex
I bet that title caught your eye, didn't it? Friends and family alert - I'm going to blog about the thing that no-one ever mentions after you've been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Triathlon is over!
Today I finished radiotherapy. Let me say that again. Today, I finished radiotherapy!
Feeling hot, hot, hot
It was time to start the maintenance treatment - tablets and injections that will hopefully keep any lingering cancer cells fast asleep, and keep me around for as long as possible.
Who needs oestrogen?
So I've completed my breast cancer triathlon, but it's not the end of the journey. My breast cancer is sensitive to oestrogen. This means that the oestrogen I produce could stimulate any remaining cancer cells to grow and spread.
Just radiotherapy to go
I'm finally getting to the 'run' stage of my breast cancer triathlon swim/bike/run analogy - radiotherapy. Many women who have a mastectomy don't need radiotherapy.
Waiting for radiotherapy
It's been about 6 weeks since I last wrote about my recovery after surgery for breast cancer. My main problem was cording, where tight bands form just underneath the skin, running along your arm to your elbow, stopping you from moving your arm properly.
How long have I got?
Before I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't really think about my own mortality.
Knowledge is power…or is it?
Throughout the majority of my treatment, I've not asked many questions about the choices I've been offered.
Recovering again
I woke up from my second operation back on the ward, in the same side room as my last op, feeling a bit sore and a bit dopey, just like last time.
Here we go again
So, where were we? Oh yes, I remember. It was 23rd December.
Run and Done?
Dermot and I were called in, and we sat down, nervous and excited, ready to hear the good news. And we did. We heard that the chemo had melted away the ductal cancer in my breast.
Waiting for the results
It was now time to find out exactly what my patients go through after I've operated on them. I must admit to being a huge mixed bag of emotions.
Mastectomy time
The time had come. After months of indecision about what type of mastectomy I wanted, it was time to go to hospital.
The Blog
Scanxiety
I'd never heard of the word scanxiety until I was diagnosed with breast cancer and started talking to the breast cancer patient community on Twitter.
Waiting
I've just come back from a fabulous few days in Switzerland, and got to spend time with my family over Christmas.
Quantity or quality?
This time last year I was recovering from my mastectomy and reconstruction, and I still can't believe how much my life has changed in the year that followed.
All I want is a bra
I'm still off work at the moment - waiting for things to fall in to place so I can be re-skilled before being let loose on live patients again, and that means a lot of time at home during the day, and I might watch the odd Friends repeat every now and again just to pass the time.
Know your rights
A couple of weeks ago I hosted a tweetchat for Macmillan to help people with cancer learn about their rights when they go back to work.
Work and Cancer
I'm about to start returning to work, and I have to say I'm a little nervous. It's going to be incredibly tough to go back into the breast cancer environment having had breast cancer myself.
The Big Pink
Ever since I was a teenager, I've had an aversion to the colour pink. Now before you panic, I wasn't traumatised as a child, I just didn't think it suited me.
Giving something back
It's been a while since I last blogged. I guess I just needed a couple of months to mentally recover after all my treatment had finished. But now I'm back, and there's a lot to catch up on.
Discharged
I can't believe that it's almost a year since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A lot has happened in that time.
Let’s talk about sex
I bet that title caught your eye, didn't it? Friends and family alert - I'm going to blog about the thing that no-one ever mentions after you've been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Triathlon is over!
Today I finished radiotherapy. Let me say that again. Today, I finished radiotherapy!
Feeling hot, hot, hot
It was time to start the maintenance treatment - tablets and injections that will hopefully keep any lingering cancer cells fast asleep, and keep me around for as long as possible.
Who needs oestrogen?
So I've completed my breast cancer triathlon, but it's not the end of the journey. My breast cancer is sensitive to oestrogen. This means that the oestrogen I produce could stimulate any remaining cancer cells to grow and spread.
Just radiotherapy to go
I'm finally getting to the 'run' stage of my breast cancer triathlon swim/bike/run analogy - radiotherapy. Many women who have a mastectomy don't need radiotherapy.
Waiting for radiotherapy
It's been about 6 weeks since I last wrote about my recovery after surgery for breast cancer. My main problem was cording, where tight bands form just underneath the skin, running along your arm to your elbow, stopping you from moving your arm properly.
How long have I got?
Before I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't really think about my own mortality.
Knowledge is power…or is it?
Throughout the majority of my treatment, I've not asked many questions about the choices I've been offered.
Recovering again
I woke up from my second operation back on the ward, in the same side room as my last op, feeling a bit sore and a bit dopey, just like last time.
Here we go again
So, where were we? Oh yes, I remember. It was 23rd December.
Run and Done?
Dermot and I were called in, and we sat down, nervous and excited, ready to hear the good news. And we did. We heard that the chemo had melted away the ductal cancer in my breast.
Waiting for the results
It was now time to find out exactly what my patients go through after I've operated on them. I must admit to being a huge mixed bag of emotions.
Mastectomy time
The time had come. After months of indecision about what type of mastectomy I wanted, it was time to go to hospital.
Do you want to stay up-to-date with my latest blog posts?