The Mother's Day Classic, 2011.

The Roaring Twenties Girls!
Emma, Me, Elisha and Stacey.

The Mother’s Day Classic was a huge success! It was a beautiful sunny morning on the Sunday the 8^th of May in The Domain and a perfect day to spend Mother’s Day.  I arrived at 8am for my first ever Mother’s Day Classic, joined by my beautiful Mum, family and friends. It was an amazing experience to see so many people there to help raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer research. 

Mum and Tara.

Walking to The Domain.

"The Roaring Twenties"

It was great to be able to participate with my young “Roaring Twenties” teammates Emma, Stacie and Elisha. When I created our team, I wasn’t sure if any of us would be able to do the walk.  It was a little bit of a challenge but I felt proud to have completed the 8kms, even running the last leg of the event! It was a fantastic feeling to be doing something to help find a cure for breast cancer and to know we are making a difference to help save lives. 

Kristine, Gail and I.

Nicky and I. 

One of my beautiful nurses who has cared for me during Chemo.

Brad and Sam during the walk.

Relaxing after the walk.

My beautiful friend Jess.

Thank you to all of you who have sponsored me and my team. “The Roaring Twenties” have now raise $27,596.20 for vital breast cancer research. I also would personally like to thank everyone for their kindness and continuous support they have shown me during my treatment.  Without the love and support from my family and friends it would have been a very difficult journey!

My beautiful Mum and I just before the walk.

For me, the journey is almost over! On Tuesday it would have been my twelfth and final treatment of taxol if I had completed the full cycle. However, this Tuesday it was my turn to be the chemo buddy.  I sat while my poor Mum took my favourite seat and had her first session of chemotherapy. The strange thing is we could have been sitting there having chemo together. On Thursday I experienced my first session of Radiotherapy. After almost twenty minutes of being moved around, drawn on and measured I was zapped for about 30 seconds and on my way. Only 28 sessions to go, with the final session on the 4^th of July, Independence Day!

See you all next year in 2012 when I attempt to run the 4kms!

Good News Week!

Well this week has been great news for me all round! On Monday I met with my Oncologist and she confirmed that I would definitely not be having any more chemotherapy.  That means no more visits to the chair for me, hooray!

Over the last four weeks I have been anxiously waiting for pathology results having been tested for the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene. Due to my pathology results of having a Triple Negative tumour, there was an extremely high possibility that I would be a carrier of the BRCA1 gene. I was not looking forward to making decisions if my results were positive.

I met with the Professor of Genetics yesterday and thankfully my results came back NEGATIVE to both BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene. If my results had come back positive, I would have been faced with the decision of considering a double mastectomy as the possibility of breast cancer returning (if you are a carrier of the gene) is around a 65% chance. It also would have meant that I would be at a considerably high risk of developing Ovarian cancer. What a huge relief it was to be told that the results were negative, I now have one less thing to worry about!

My treatment is now coming closer to an end! Next week I will have my simulation appointment to get my tattoos and will begin six weeks of radiotherapy the following week. I will then be monitored for the rest of my life with annual MRI’s, mammograms and ultrasounds due to my age.

“The Roaring Twenties” have now raised a total of over $24,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. I’m very excited for the big walk tomorrow!  With t-shirts planned and 1920’s headbands made, I am looking forward to walking with my family and team mates and wish all the mums a very Happy Mother’s Day!

Donations with Dave!

Each week when I go to chemo my biggest concern (other then the fact that I have to have chemo) when I get there is that someone may have stolen my seat! It’s funny that each and every one of us that has chemo has a particular seat which we are quite fond of. Mine is down the very end of the room directly opposite the kitchen. Close to the food and easy access for my chemo buddies to fetch me bottles of water and make me cups of tea! Lately my seat has been taken (I do have a second favourite) and a few weeks ago even my backup seat was occupied. I had to sit at the opposite end of the room and I was not impressed! It just didn’t have the same vibe and definitely not as social.

The great news is that hopefully I should never have to sit in any of these chairs again. On Monday, I met with my Oncologist and due to my neuropathy symptoms I have now finished chemotherapy which I celebrated late night by having two glasses of champagne, yay! I still had five more treatments of Taxol to go but my Oncologist believes that my body just won’t cope. I will meet with her at the start of May and I fear she might try and sneak at least one more treatment in.

My team “The Roaring Twenties” has raised a massive amount of over $18,000 for the Mother’s Day Classic. My original goal was to try and raise $1000 and now thanks to all my wonderful family, friends and even some strangers I have raised over $6000. I like to make a special mention to my cousin Dave for coming up with a great idea to get me a bit of extra funds! On the first weekend of March he posted a status update on Facebook that if any of his mates sponsored me under the amount of $100 Dave would match the donation. If they donated over $100 he would mow their lawn in drag like Homer Simpson did for Ned Flanders. A big thank you to Daniel and Paul for sponsoring me that weekend; Paul donated $100.01 which meant David had to dress in drag. Lucky for me Paul lives in Townsville so my lawn was mowed instead. Thanks Dave for a good laugh and drumming up some extra sponsors for me.

Also, a huge thank you to my friend Dave for his big efforts in collecting donations from the Cabin Crew at work.

With just two weeks to go I’m hoping the rain will let up so I can get a bit more training in before the day.

Happy Easter Everyone!

A month full of surprises! (Good and bad).

It’s been a while since my last blog and a lot has happened since then. It’s all been happening in our family at the moment! March was one busy month with some fantastic news and some not so great news. My brother Josh and his partner Cassie became parents to beautiful Zanna Mary-Marie and I became an Aunty for the first time. My brother Blake and his partner Melissa our now engaged; and are also expecting a baby in September.What we didn’t expect to hear is that my beautiful Mum Gabrielle was diagnosed with Lymphoma. I never thought that the two of us would get cancer within five months of one another. It came as a huge shock! Mum has been so supportive having to deal with the fact that I have cancer and caring for me and now she has to also go through it herself.

Mum has been diagnosed with a type of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma called Mantle Cell. Mantle Cell Lymphoma is relatively uncommon and accounts for approximately 5% to 10% of all NHL cases and is currently considered as an incurable cancer. At this stage Mum’s Lymphoma looks like it’s slow moving  and at the end of this month we will find out if she will be treated with Chemotherapy or if the doctor’s will take the watchful waiting approach. The watchful waiting approach involves regular monitoring from doctors to look for signs of disease progression.

 

Yesterday was meant to be my 8th treatment of Taxol, given at a reduced rate by 25%. Taxol causes permanent nerve damage and as I have been getting tingling in my fingers, toes and lips since week five, the nurses were very concerned about all the symptoms I’m having. After speaking with my oncologist I was sent home with a week off chemo in hope that the symptoms will diminish.

 People that know me well know I love to wear my heels and now I’m struggling to walk in them as my feet are too sore from the Taxol!I am currently studying Millinery and have noticed that my fingertips are quite painful to touch when I’m working. I have lost one toenail and it looks like I could lose another and possibly one of my fingernails, yuck! My nose bleeds constantly, my back aches and I’m getting lots of headaches. These are just a few of my symptoms but if I compare having the Taxol to the AC I’d take the Taxol any day (minus the nerve damage) as I feel relatively normal.

Mum and I had been in full swing training for the Mother’s Day Classic everyday. Since her diagnosis not much walking has taken place. I have been pretty tired lately but plan to walk each day now up until the event. Only one day have we walked the full 8kms! It took us an hour and half and we were absolutely shattered afterwards. I am confident I’ll be able to walk the 8kms on the day and with less then four weeks to go I’m looking forward to the event.

IVF, chemo and hair loss.

My last hit of AC!

At 28 years old I didn’t have too many worries in my life! So when I had to consider freezing my eggs to protect my fertility; starting chemo and loosing my long hair all in a matter of three weeks it was a pretty tough time!

I am single, so after much thought, I decided to go ahead with IVF and do an egg collection just as a sort of insurance policy; just in case I can't fall pregnant naturally later. I was told because of my age that menopause would most likely be temporary but it could not be guaranteed. So for nearly two weeks I injected my stomach with hormones each day to stimulate my ovaries. On the day of the operation I woke up from the anesthetic and looked in the palm of my hand to see a piece of tape with the number 39 written on it. 39 eggs were collected, 31 eggs have been frozen but hopefully I will never have to use them. 

Five days later, I started my first round of chemo with a swollen stomach from the egg collection. I began my treatment on the 1^st of December 2010 and it hasn't been an easy journey. I was nervous to start treatment but nothing could ever have prepared me for how sick I got! I spent the next week in bed only moving to go to the bathroom. The slightest smell of food made me gag! I experienced severe headaches, stomach pains, constipation, vomiting and constant nausea. Hot sweats, chest pain, esophagitis, mouth ulcers and more! You name it I got it. Plus, I was already very ill from the egg collection. I felt miserable and the thought of having my next round of chemo scared me.  Luckily I had my beautiful mum looking after me and she continues to do so.

Thirteen days after my first round of chemo I started to feel my head tingle! I had been informed that this was a warning sign my hair was about to fall out. It was only a slight tingling feeling so I told myself it was psychological and I was being paranoid. The next day the tingling sensation was intense. It felt like I’d rubbed deep heat all over my scalp. My hair began to fall out that day. Five days later it was falling out all over the place and that’s when I really lost it and broke down in tears. Having had very long hair, I had it cut short, just after my first treatment so loosing it wouldn’t be as traumatic.

I'd wake up each morning with hair all in mouth and all other the sheets. At one stage it looked like I had a bird nest on top of my head from it matting up in my sleep! I had to get mum to chop it off. New Year’s Day I embraced the baldness and shaved the remaining scraggly hairs off.

On the 19th of January I had my fourth and final hit of AC, a cause for celebration! I was so excited to say goodbye to that horrible red stuff that had made me feel so awful. Two weeks later I was due to have my first round of Taxol. Only I was still recovering from my final AC hit and with a mouth full of ulcers, was unable to start. It was put off for a week but the day before I was due to try again mum had to take me into the A & E as I had a fever and I was admitted into hospital. I spent four long days in my own room on intravenous antibiotics. I was treated as neutropenic and wasn’t allowed visitors except for mum and dad. My lovely cousin Renata snuck in on the last night with loads of magazines for me to read. It turns out that I had a bacterial infection caused by food and my body couldn’t fight it on its own due to my low white blood cell count.

I have lost count of how many needles I have had since I was diagnosed. Luckily I don't have a phobia as it would make my life very difficult right now. Blood tests every week is just part of my normal life at the moment. What I wasn't prepared for; was when I had to have a blood test taken from my foot while I was in hospital. I do not recommend this to anyone. As my canula was in my left arm and my right arm can not be used in case of risking lymphodmeia, the pathology lady thought it would be a good idea to use my foot rather than my hand. How wrong was she! After two attempts and a lot of screaming and crying from me, she then attempted to take blood from my left hand twice and still with no success. I ended up with a severe headache from the traumatic experience and not even a single drop of blood was collected!

Finally, I had my first round of Taxol on the 22nd of February (3 weeks late). So far it feels like a dream when compared to the AC. So far so good! I’ve felt slightly nauseous and have been feeling tired and I’m now experiencing some aches and pains. Otherwise my body feels almost normal and I’m hoping it will remain that way for the next 10 weeks.

My Story

Hi my name is Melissa, I’m 28 years old and I’m currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. It all started on Monday the 4^th of October when I was taking my bra off to jump in the shower late at night and my breast felt painfully sore. I felt my right breast and found a big lump, rock hard like a golf ball! Straight away I had a really bad feeling it was cancer!  I kept telling myself I would be fine, it was just a cyst. In my heart I knew that it wasn’t.

 The next morning when I got up and flew to LA (I’m a Flight Attendant). I arrived home on the Friday and on Saturday morning I told mum I had found a lump and burst into tears. She said “Go to the doctors now!”  So my friend Helen came and sat in the waiting room with me. When I saw the doctor she said it was normally a good sign that it was sore as it usually means it’s not cancer (she was so wrong) and that it was most likely a cyst. Monday morning I had an ultrasound. The doctor was called in to have a look (which I knew wasn’t a good sign). He then told me that it looked like a cyst that had bleed and I would need a biopsy done. On Tuesday I went to have the biopsies taken and was once again told it was probably just a cyst due to my age.

The following Friday, I headed off to LA again as I started to feel confident that it was only a cyst. I landed in Sydney on Monday morning and as I drove home on the F3 that afternoon I started to stress thinking, “Does my mortgage protection cover me for breast cancer?” I headed straight to the doctors.  At about 5.45pm on Monday the 18^th of October I saw the doctor and she said “What can I do for you?” “I’m here for the results of my biopsy” “Oh, yes I don’t think I was terribly happy with them”. She started to read the report. I heard the words MALIGNANT CARCINOMA and I burst into tears. “So it is a form of cancer” she says “an invasive ductal carcinoma which form in the milk ducts of the breast tissue”. The doctor asked me if I had a partner waiting outside. “No, I’m here alone”. She called mum while I sat alone starring at the wall for 25mins drinking a cup of tea. It felt like the longest time in my life! Then every thing happened so quickly!

On Wednesday I met with a Surgeon to discuss my options available, Thursday I had a mammogram and Friday I had a cat scan. On Friday I also meet with a second surgeon. I burst into tears when he said he could operate on me the following Wednesday. It was only day five and I hadn’t even had a chance to deal with it myself. So, on Wednesday the 27^th of October I had my first operation, a lumpectomy.  A week later I received the great news that my nodes were clear and the bad news that my margins were not and I needed another operation as there was DCIS present. I was informed that I had a high grade three aggressive triple negative tumour .I went back the following Wednesday and had my second operation to remove the surrounding tissue with the results coming back clear. The first few weeks of my diagnosis were the hardest. After the tumour was removed I felt relieved to know that the cancer was no longer in my body. I am very thankful to my beautiful family and great friends who are very supportive and have helped me so far through this journey.

I am participating in the Mother’s Day Classic as I want to help raise the awareness to younger females that breast cancer can happen at an early age. My team “The Roaring Twenties” consists of three other girls in their twenties who are also currently undergoing treatment. Our mothers, family and friends will be joining us in the walk. I am looking forward to the event and helping to raise as much funds possible to help find a cure.

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