Chaps, this is for you too….
14 years ago I had an appointment at St Thomas‘ Hospital in London: ‘Tommies 16.45h’ it says in my diary – for my only tattoos – to mark the co-ordinates for my radiotherapy due to start a couple of weeks later.
This is so that the radiographers can line up the exact shape of the area to be sandblasted in exactly the same place every time.
It was a dark October late afternoon with a fine drizzle, and I remember it particularly because the nurse had just started the first one when there was a fire alarm – and it was not a due drill…!!
So out we all traipsed in an orderly fashion ….
I grabbed my fleecy jacket to go over my open-backed hospital gown, and we huddled together [remember being able to do that??] – various gaggles of staff and patients waiting patiently outside for about quarter of an hour before we were allowed back in.
I had found a lump, and when I went to the doctor, she found two; and also evidence of what she called Nodality – ie, swollen lymph nodes in my armpit.
That was when my inner “I wonder if I have breast cancer?”
became
“Oh my goodness I think I really DO have breast cancer…”
Ladies AND Gents – yes, men can get breast cancer too – please check yourselves, learn the natural shape and feel of your breast tissue, and be alert for changes.
#breastcancerawarenessmonth
Touch ~ Look ~ Check