Friday saw me back at the breast institute, my appointment was with my surgeon/consultant (sometimes referred to as Dr Gorgeous – mainly by mum 😉) unfortunately we had to wait an hour and half after my appointment time to see him.

He asked how my breasts have been and how I was getting on, clarifying that I’d finished chemo. I explained that my new breast was about a size smaller, but that I am unsure if I want to do anything about it now, feel like I’ve kind of been through enough lately 😉. His response was to say “let’s have a look shall we” (so there I am boobs out again, hands on hips, as he studies his art work – think he is quite pleased with his handy work! More photos – he takes photos for a couple of reasons, 1. So he has a reference to how they are at this point, for tweaking purposes 2. For the album, this album is shown to women when choosing their surgery, so they can see how they may look. There is no way to identify they are mine )

He agrees that the new breast has settled down and needs filling, he explained that it can take a year for it to settle totally. I asked if I decided to wait, to have it tweaked would it be a problem to get it done, thankfully he said not at all, and it’s quite common for ladies to express that they’ve had enough and to wait. He briefly mentioned tattooing the nipple as will finish the job nicely, but we are going to wait. I have an appointment booked for March to agree for the tweaking to happen – 6 months and it’ll be spring 😀.

I asked the question, with the cancer I had and the treatment I received and still having what’s the likelihood of it returning – he didn’t really want to say, other than it’s quite low. He explained sometimes it comes back in the breast wall – which I hadn’t realised. But the tamoxifen should do it’s job and I need to have a glass half full, he was pretty positive but as I knew he wouldn’t put a figure on it, there’s no guarantee – with time, in his experience it gets easier and you think about it less. I will say I don’t think about it too much, not everyday, just when something doesn’t feel right, which I think is normal.

So I now have no more appointments for myself at a hospital until February when I have my yearly mammogram  (although I will be at the breast institute once a week in November attending the moving forward course) 

I am feeling better each day, my back will always feel numb and play me up, as I am sure where they took the lymph nodes will always feel funny. (I was writing a school note last week and my right boob was twitching away – very strange feeling) but it’s a small price to pay. 

I feel great today as completed a “memory walk” for the Alzheimer’s society this morning and I managed it well – although very tired now – but go me 😀