Mon Dessein

English Version   Chemo treatment day #1 arrived without much fanfare, even though there has been a lot of planning, researching and talking about it. Whilst waiting for the Oncologist, I was experiencing the full range of emotions and  I felt like breaking down when I finally saw her. She was, as always, dry and to the point which kept it practical for us. The check in was simple: she ran through the one page of chemo drugs I would be receiving and then ran through the seven pages of potential side effects, always reiterating that it's different for every single patient.   From there, we went to the “Ivy suite” before moving through to the treatment room. Here, there were lots of big comfy chairs separated by curtains that couldn't really close or give you privacy. The curtains were drawn so no natural light came in and it felt like an elderly care Hospital as most people were at least a generation older than me. Once I was on the chair, they made me as comfortable as po...

What a roller coaster the last few months have been. As you know, the public hospital chemo treatment plan was very intense and long. After seeing the public hospital treatment rooms, we decided to have it in a private hospital. We assumed the treatment plan will be very similar with the surroundings being more comfortable (I can come with someone, they provide biscuits and tea, less crowded, natural light...). However, the new oncologist was very upfront with us and suggested that because of the surgery outcome and the size of the cancer, the treatment plan should be drastically reduced for 12 weeks total (4 cycles every 3 weeks). What??? Why not the bazooka again? Isn't it the safest for me? I got confused again. For her, since my tumor was small and taken out early and since my lymph nodes were all clear, it was more damaging to undergo the bazooka chemo (called red Devil by the way 😣) and safe enough to follow this shorter chemo. If this will have been proposed in the 1st plac...

https://breastfriends.raisely.com/sandra-giry Hey guys I am raising funds for breast cancer care WA. They have been super supportive throughout my journey beating breast cancer. Any donation is welcome and goes a long way to help women and families.

ENGLISH version Round 2  With the great news of being cancer free post surgery, I had hope that maybe I won't need chemo after all or maybe a small/lighter one. So that was a massive shock when the oncologist recommended the heaviest and longest chemo as the next phase of the treatment. Why should I undergo such a treatment if I'm cancer free?  Because if there are any cancer cells travelling in my body now, the chemo will kill them. Maybe there isn't but if there is, they will multiply and when I will have a second cancer then it won't be curable. So I will start mid September or so and it will last about 6 months. The drugs provided are hardcore and the cycles I will undergo won't give me any break.  The first 8 weeks, I will have chemo every 2 weeks and then it will be every week. Apparently the 1st week of the cycle you are not feeling good, the 2nd you start to feel better and you are back to "normal" the 3rd week. So in a nutshell, I won't feel g...

15th August 2024 It has been a joy to be home since Saturday the 11th of August with no drains. The days have passed in a blur of cuddles routine and a bit of domestic bliss. All dabbed with rest and relaxing, where and when possible. I really enjoy normality like walking kids to school every morning. Thursday the 15th of August was my checkup post surgery meeting and I was a little torn. Part of me wanted to know how the surgery recovery is going and even more what are the pathological results (has my cancer spread or not?). Another part of me was ignorance is bliss and to not think about the potential next steps (Chemo/radiation). But it is a massive WIN, I'm cancer free!!!!! Not only the surgeon is amazed by her work (to be honest, she did an incredibly good job), and my healing is going very well, but the pathological results are great too. It showed only one cancerous tumour instead of 3, much smaller than expected and the most important is that it hasn't spread. The biops...

English Version  Just as I was starting to settle in to the routine at home, tuesday night brought a lot of pain in the breast. An issue with the drain which made it impossible to sleep during the night.  When the home care nurse visited me on Wednesday, she called my surgeon who asked me to come asap to the hospital to check. After a quick review, it was decided that I'd be re-admitted to hospital to have antibiotics delivered by an IV drip.  So I got brought to a ward in a four beds room only separated by a curtain. Let's just say that the mix of people in this room was confronting to all my senses and going back to hospital that unexpectedly, really hit me hard. On Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. the surgeon came by and ask me to fast until they know which of these three potential scenarios I would have to follow: Back to the operating theatre to clean the infection  Stay in hospital for few more days to get more antibiotics via IV  Return home quickly with the...