So there I am exhaling in delight and suddenly he started talking about my needing radiotherapy!
This was a shock because right from almost the start it had been evident that my whole breast would have to come off, with nothing left to radiate.
Off he went to check and kept coming back in to ask if we had any questions, but we hadn't. When he returned to confirm I wouldn't need radiotherapy, I had two questions which get gave me very short thrift with. My first question concerned the repeat prescription for tamoxifen and whether I had to pay for it. He snapped back that he didn't know about such things, but fortunately his registrar got the paperwork that I need to complete to avoid paying for tamoxifen for ten years. My second question was what to do if I experience serious side effects with the tamoxifen, and should I call his secretary or go to my GP? - and he said that the side effects were not compulsory. He really did seem so offhand and distracted this time, as if he was so weighed down with his own problems, which of course may be the case. He explained that my cancer has a 7% chance of spreading, but as I said! I would rather have the 7% chance that I know about than the many more percentages that I may not know about.
But in any case. The lightness of our step as we left the Arden Centre! Coupled with trying not to look too delighted, to all the people there whose news or outlook had not been so good. Once again, I feel so, so lucky.
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