It was
such a relief to have sex without fear of pregnancy. I had a wonderful son and daughter and that
was my ideal family.
Little
did I know!
After 10
years of marriage and an amicable divorce I married again, stopped taking the
pill and promptly had 4 more children.
Bad
menopause and lots of hormone replacement later, in 1999 I bumped into my
Gynaecologist at the movies and he jogged my memory about a Mammogram.
Off I
went guiltily and a 3cm Oestrogen-hungry tumour was discovered in my right
breast. A lumpectomy later left me with
a very odd shaped breast, 6 weeks of radiation and 5 years of Tamoxifen. Not a
walk in the park especially as I was not allowed any form of hormone
replacement, not even the homeopathic kind.
I soon
discovered the truth of the fact that 1 out of every 4 women will have breast
cancer. I went to the bridge club with
drain hidden under my jacket and truly at each of the 40 bridge tables was at
least one woman who had had a brush with the dread disease.
7 years
later and with no symptoms other than a temperature every 4 hours I was
diagnosed with Colon Cancer. My GP said
he had a gut feeling it was in my gut!
A huge op
and revolting chemo pills for 6 months, I was told I was now cancer free. However 3 scans per year were advised. Two and a half years later a metastatic liver cancer
was seen on my scan. Another long op and
even longer scar, 4 months of revolting chemo and 6 months later my liver was normal again.
Another 2
years has passed and I've just had another malignant tumour removed from my
liver. The surgeon just had to follow
the dots from the last one, so no extra scar and thank heavens for a really
good Medical Aid. Once again I am cancer free, and also free to enjoy life to the
fullest every single day I can survive.
Now the
reason for this Blog – it is a nagging blog – to persuade as many people as possible not to be afraid of
Mammograms and Colonoscopies. They are life saving.
