Jen's Story

"So I’m jen, 39 married to my husband Matt . Our children are Reece aged 13 and daughter Elsie aged 10 .
So my story started July 22 when I’d been experiencing pain in my left breast stupidly put it down to hormones for a couple of weeks before actually contacting the doctor as could then feel lumps (and quite large!)
Once speaking to my doctor they seen me the same day and agreed with me they could also feel them so would refer me to the breast clinic and was reassured this usually happens within 2 weeks and to not worry to much as usually if it’s cancer you don’t experience pain .
My appointment came through for the very next week the 5th august so feeling very nervous when we went was still hoping it was just a cyst . Expecting this appointment to just be a tests and nothing more I was very wrong !!! It began with an ultrasound where they spent a very long time going over it , I then had a mammogram to get better images when coming back through for another ultrasound she told me they had found 3 lumps in my breast and 2 suspicious lymth nodes , she told me she had been doing her job 42 years and was sorry but pretty certain it was cancer , I then had biopsies taken and they called for my husband to come in our world came crashing down there and then.
Life became a whirlwind of hospital appointments and a lot of information to take in I was told I had triple negative breast cancer which is a rarer and harder to treat one, as there aren’t many treatments for it with a higher risk of reacurrances, an aggressive form that grows quickly !
Telling my parents , family and friends was hard but telling my children was the hardest day of my life 😞 .
A treatment plan was formed I was to start chemotherapy in sept for 6 months made up of 9 weeks of 2 chemo drugs and the rest another combination which I’ve received weekly it came with many side effects and with that came many different medications to take . since I am due to have my last chemo next week (feb 7th) and was overwhelmed to be offered a weekend at the Cotswolds by the Ben Saunders foundation!
Chemo has been hard on me and everyone around me it’s impacted on family life and been hard on our children things have had to be cancelled and changed and seeing their mum poorly has been heartbreaking 💔 having this weekend away is just what we need and they are both so excited to have some family life away from hospitals and what’s been going on .during chemo I was admitted once with a high temperature and infection and worries about high levels for my heart , this was hard on the kids coming home and my parents having to tell them I was having to stay in hospital . They are both at an age they understand what cancer means . They are both receiving councilling through their schools and they have been amazing at supporting us
I’m still in the midst of treatment so in 4 weeks I will have surgery. Left mascetomy and lymth node clearance I’m then told I need intense radiotherapy as I had spread to the breast nodes and the mammory nodes behind the chest bone , there’s also discussion of more chemo in tablet form for 6 months after that so we’re throwing everything at it and keeping hope and faith that we can beat this ."