T-REX - DAY #7

T-Rex Planet Tour Cancer Awareness Project

This is the last day that T-REX, the little pink dinosaur will be staying with us.

So; ................today we have a lot of really personal stuff to talk about.

When T-REX came to stay with us we hadn’t a clue where his visit would take us. We just knew that we would be able to photograph him for a week.

Today we are going to talk about BREAST CANCER because OCTOBER is BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH.

Apparently one in eight women in the UK will get breast cancer.

Two years ago Ann had breast cancer.

At the age of 52 she went for her first mammogram. ...............In a caravan parked in Tesco’s car park. It’s all very high tec here in Cornwall??!! They squished, squashed & manipulated her boobs into all sorts of positions.

.......................3 weeks later she was told she had breast cancer.

She didn’t feel ill, she didn’t have a lump........................ she did have a very bruised boob because so many needles had been stuck into it during the diagnostic procedure we have a photo but it probably would be removed by BLIP as an indecent image. But apart from that she felt fine.

Anyway, she had an operation to cut out the cancer that no-one could feel, she had 3 weeks of radiotherapy, and now she’s taking a tablet a day for 5 years.

It’s all just a bit surreal!

Before Ann had her surgery & radiotherapy she was really, really scared. Ann ‘doesn’t do doctors & hospitals’.

...........But the Macmillan nurse was lovely. They do such a good job.

Ann said, ‘Why have I got this?’

The MacMillan nurse didn’t know but said statistically the following three issues had been found to be relevant in the cause of breast cancer:

Being overweight – quote from nurse – ‘you’re obviously not’

Not having children – quote from nurse – ‘Its none of my business why you’ve not had children. You might not have been able to have kids or you might have decided not too.

Drinking too much alcohol – quote from Ann –‘I drink loads of wine’................ Quote from nurse – ‘Well these are only what the statistics say’. Well I guess she had to say this as Ann was in floods of tears and she was probably just saying anything to calm her down!!!

OK so Ann hasn’t had children and she drinks too much. But she knows people a lot younger than her, who have had children & don’t drink & still got breast cancer. Grrrr

She was told she would need at least a month off work, she wouldn’t be able to walk me, she wouldn’t be able to drive for two weeks, she wouldn’t be able to hoover or do housework or iron or cook.

OK, so I guess it’s maybe better to paint the worst possible scenario so that when cancer patients see that they’re actually OK they’re happy??!!

For us it was a really stressful time. We live alone, so Ann spent two weeks batch cooking, before her op, so that she had meals that she could just shove into the microwave.

And then, after Ann’s op we went to stay with her sister for a week, because her main priority was having someone that could take me out for my 2hours of walks every day.

In reality; Ann could have gone back to work the day after her ‘op’. She could have walked me, she could have driven her car, she could have done whatever she wanted.

And even during her three weeks of radiotherapy, when she’d been told she’d be really, really tired........... she wasn’t. She continued to walk me and she continued to go to work.

...............I guess Ann was lucky.

...........And she’s just gone for her second year check up and everything is hunky dory. YAY!

We chose not to share this on BLIP at the time because it was all just a bit too personal. We’re sharing it now to help raise CANCER awareness.

Sorry FB friends & family who didn’t know about this. However, it just goes to show that CANCER is not necessarily a death sentence. Ann is still very much alive and kicking!!!!!

T-REX, the little pink dinosaur, is travelling the globe to promote cancer awareness. Please click onto the links below to understand more about this very worthwhile project.

T-Rex - Day #1
T-Rex - Day #2
T-Rex - Day #3
T-Rex - Day #4
T-Rex - Day #5
T-Rex - Day #6

And now we’re going to parcel up T-Rex and send him off to Edisteve in Edinburgh. Edisteve is always going out & about so we’re sure T-Rex will have a fantastic time.

Thanks for staying T-Rex. It’s been fab!!! xxx