Angela looked upon her operation as the end of her cancer.  She kept her spirit and within a day she was walking about the wards chatting to people.  

Angela  thought she was ready for chemo but when as she tried to walk into the treatment room that very first time, she froze and broke down.   The side effects she experienced were textbook -  every single one without any respite.

The second cycle wasn’t any easier.  It was difficult to get the needle into Angela’s arm and the Chemo was damaging her veins. She had a huge track mark down her forearm that any seasoned heroine addict would be proud of.

Getting a new boob was like opening a birthday present.  Angela was measured up for her prosthetic breast and then went shopping for boobs amongst the boxes and boxes the breast care nurse had stacked up for her to try. 

Hair loss is the major side effect most people associate with chemotherapy.  In some cases it is even more distressing than actually loosing a breast.   Angela took charge and was determined that SHE would tell the chemotherapy  when she was going to loose her hair, not the other way around.  

It had caused the violent sickness and a track mark down her arm that almost rivalled the mastectomy scar, but it was the final cycle of FEC and Angela felt wonderful as her treatment reached the halfway mark.

A new cycle, a new poison.  Made from Yew trees, this chemo couldn’t be all bad could it?  The sickness wasn’t but Angela was not prepared for the fatigue this drug would bring.             

We hadn’t required the services of Macmillan Cancer Support but you never know, so we held a coffee morning to raise funds for the charity.  Community spirit and kindness is not often shown in such high numbers but then, Angela is a very special person. 

The third week of each cycle is supposed to be a good week and the patient is supposed to be able to do normal things.  As the chemo took over Angela’s body the number of days she felt ‘normal’ dwindled to just four.  Even so, Angela took this as a sign that the treatment must be working.  She couldn’t feel this bad for so long without reason could she?

One more hour of treatment and her chemo would be over.  If she wasn't so tired, Angela would have skipped all the way to her appointment.  The fatigue was the worst but it was also the last and Angela would put up with any side effect knowing that.

After the chemo regime came the radiotherapy!  Every day for five weeks would take it’s toll on Angela’s body but it wasn’t until ten days after the treatment that full physical effects were apparent and Angela’s torso looked as if boiling water had been poured over it. 

The adjuvant therapy was over but now Angela  faced five years of hormonal therapy before she would be officially be ‘in remission’.  She wasn’t prepared for a couple of little hiccups along the way  but being Angela she just dug in and got on with life. 

If you are going to get cancer and go through all the 'delights' that goes with it,  life has got to look great when you come out of the other side, hasn’t it?  Angela has lots to look forward to.  She's also very excited to be on the waiting list for reconstruction.  A nice perky C cup would do nicely and a tweak to the other one to match please.