APRIL
The breast cancer scare that was thankfully just a scare.
I made a conscious decision in March to get my scans done then, and not in May. Why you ask? My theory was that if I get everything done in the first three months, January – mammogram, February – colonoscopy, March – scans, then I would have the rest of the year clear. 9 months to just live, have trips, go to concerts and more. Great plan, except by the 12 March the plan had gone to hell.
Mammogram in January – all good. Colonoscopy in February – all good. I had my scans done in March and anxiously awaited the results. Kidneys were all fine. Thyroid had a couple of changes but still stable enough to just ‘watch and wait.’ Then I got a request for a non-urgent appointment from my dr. No issue, non urgent I thought. Wrong. My breast ultrasound showed something. Now with Cowdens Syndrome, there is a 25-85% risk that breast cancer will show its ugly head at some time in my life. The average person has a 12% risk to put it into context. That’s a big difference.
Most Cowdens women are diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 50, so the fact that I have got to 54 and escaped it (so far) was in my favour. The first step was a repeat mammogram. I went for that on the 25th of March. I had been waiting for 2 weeks for this appointment and I won’t deny it, panicking a bit that I may have cancer. I got to the appointment to be told it wasn’t needed.
I was partly thankful but partly peeved that both dad and I had been put through the stress that we had. The Dr explained that he had received the ultrasound report and pulled my mammograms and other ultrasounds for the last couple of years. What the 2026 report had determined as “an area of concern” was in fact something called “areas of calcification and quite common.” The Dr had laid one scan picture over another and stated it was very obvious what he was looking at.
So, I was sent on my way and told not to worry. Better to be safe than sorry so thank you to whomever reported on this year’s scan and thank you to the Dr who went one step further and pulled up all my old ones to compare within order to make his own judgement.
MARCH
Postponed for this month
FEBRUARY
Reporting in
Originally, I had nothing to report this month until the powers that be at Sunshine Coast Hospital decided to book my colonoscopy for this month. It was supposed to be last November but thanks to an accident at home and an inability to walk far or bend my knees, it was put off.
If you spoke to anyone about a colonoscopy, they would probably say to you that it was day surgery and a couple of hours at hospital. It is a little more than that. I had 21 days with not being allowed nuts and grains. Now for a person that loves nuts, chocolate with nuts and crunchy nut cornflakes, this was tough. (It’s usually 10 days but due to some fiddling with dates, it ended up being longer). Then one day prior you have clear fluids only. Nil by mouth the day of the procedure until it is done. There is the potential for some aftereffects which can last a few days. So, the “day surgery” stretches to a couple of weeks.
I did Thursday 19th with the clear fluids which for me is water or black coffee. Then the prep. Now I can get orange prep which unbelievably, doesn’t taste that bad. I have a bag of butterscotch sweets to suck too (they’re allowed). The prep was not fun this time. It took a long time to start working which made for an uncomfortable night’s sleep.
Then on the 20th at midday, it is into the day surgery unit. I was admitted at midday and 3rd on the afternoon list which meant I was sitting around until 230pm. I don’t mind having these done, it’s just the inconvenience of it all.
Well, that’s done. My 6th colonoscopy since March 2022. I’m an expert at these now and the staff at the hospital greet me with, “welcome back” as opposed to “name?” The procedure was completed and I was home 5 hours later. I have, as the nurses said, a year’s warranty and will be back next Feb for another one. They removed 97 polyps this time (the average person has polyps but usually less than 10). Just got to wait to see what the pathology shows and whether anything is cancerous or pre-cancerous. Fingers crossed.
JANUARY
The Start of a Fresh New Year
I have the following for the year – ultrasounds of kidney, thyroid, and breast. Thyroid surgeon yearly follow up and a colonoscopy. The joys of a chronic disease. My mammogram is usually in February, but they were able to get me booked in for January. So, on the 8th, off I went.
With memories of my aunty Sally ringing in my ears, (“leave your dignity at the door” she’d say!) I headed to the Sunshine Coast Hospital to get it done. 4 working days later my result came through. No signs of breast cancer detected. Come back next year!!
Reminder that I will only be posting in the Medical Blog through the coming months if there is anything to say!
