A Cancer diagnosis

On the 22nd of December 2020, my mum was diagnosed with stage 2 Breast Cancer. After attending an annual mammogram a few weeks earlier, an abnormality was screened. It felt like the worst day of my life.

She said she had a feeling it was cancer when they said that something had shown up on the screen, even though they had reassured her that it could be nothing. She’s very intuitive. My mum is the youngest of five siblings, two boys, and three girls. Four out of the five have now had cancer in some form. Her older sister also had breast cancer and is now in remission thankfully. Unfortunately, both of her brothers have passed away, one directly due to bowel cancer and although the other one had leukemia his death was due to other complications. Her mother also passed away due to Breast Cancer when she was 23 so I never got to meet her.

She said she thought it was cancer as it has always been so prominent in her family history. Over the next few months, she will have to undergo surgery, radiotherapy, and possibly even chemotherapy as well as having to take medication every day for the next 10 years of her life. I am going to document every step of the way, this could turn into my final major project and a personal documentation, I will know more after further thinking and discussions.