Lurching from September to October…
I always dread September.
It is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and, once again, I carried a gold balloon around with me every day to raise awareness.
It is amazing how many people say, “Is it someone’s birthday?”
To which I launch into: “NO! It’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!” 😂
And then, of course, I tell them why I’m carrying it.
I’ve also spent September encouraging people to sign a petition calling for statutory pay for parents who have to take time off work to be with a child going through cancer treatment.
September finished.
And now… October. Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Sometimes I feel like shouting: CANCER – does it never end in our family?!
Bern had a tumour on his kidney just before lockdown and had his kidney removed. We then spent lockdown trying to shield him as much as possible.
And then, two years ago, it was my turn.
I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.
One thing my own diagnosis made me incredibly grateful for was just how far breast cancer treatment has come. Research has given women like me treatment options and hope that simply wasn’t available for previous generations.
Mine wasn’t a lump.
I think this is one of the most important things I can say.
My breast had a crease.
That was it.
I waited two weeks because I’d been dieting and losing weight and wondered whether that was the reason.
But the crease didn’t go away.
So I rang my GP.
She saw me straight away. She couldn’t feel a lump either, but she referred me for a mammogram.
Two weeks later, at that appointment, the first nurse I saw could feel two lumps.
And suddenly…
It went like this.
Mammogram.
Ultrasound.
Biopsy.
Then the consultant telling me I had two malignant tumours that needed to be removed.
Another mammogram.
Conversations about dates for surgery, medication and coming off HRT.
My cancer was hormone-sensitive, which meant oestrogen could encourage it to grow, so HRT became part of those discussions too.
You are in a scary place and very very shaky and in shock.
There’s news, information, terminology, appointments and the sudden realisation that this is actually happening to you.
And so my journey began.
It was a rocky road that seemed to change almost daily and took a great deal of mental strength to get through but I am a only worry about what you can actually affect..
Then it went like this…
After my first lumpectomy, they found cancer in a couple of lymph nodes.
Suddenly chemotherapy was being discussed — potentially 18 weeks of what my consultant described as gruelling treatment.
And the margins in my breast weren’t clear enough, so I needed another lumpectomy.
And then it went like this…
On 4 January 2025, I had my second lumpectomy.
Eventually, the decision was that I didn’t need chemotherapy. Instead, I had three weeks of radiotherapy.
On 4 April, I finished treatment.
And I RANG THAT BELL. 🔔
I will never stop being grateful for the treatment I’ve received and for the nurses and wonderful team who looked after me at Cheltenham Breast Clinic.
So if there’s one thing I want someone reading this to take away, it’s this:
Please don’t ignore a change in your breast because it isn’t a lump.
And please don’t miss your mammogram when you’re invited.
If something looks or feels different, get it checked.
I’d much rather you felt a little silly for worrying about nothing than ignored something that needed attention.
Perhaps that’s why September rolling straight into October makes me feel a bit wobbly.
Childhood cancer. Breast cancer. Our family’s experiences of both.
But it also reminds me why I keep coming back to two words:
Living & Giving.
We don’t know what’s around the corner.
So live the life that’s happening TODAY.
See the people you love. Do the thing you’ve been putting off. Laugh. Make a difference where you can. Give something back.
Because every ordinary, messy, busy day really is precious.
And that’s probably enough wittering from me for this week…
Jules x
