Hi, I'm new to the forum but not so new to cancer.

Back in 2002 I was beginning a new life with a new partner in new part of the country, had a new job and I was so tired all the time. I put it down to all the changes but increasingly came to realise that something wasn't right. I had pain in my abdomen and such heavy periods that lasted sometimes for two weeks or more. The GP decided it must be fibroids, scans showed a "ropey" uterus so I had a hysterectomy a few months later.

Feeling wonderful I went for my checkup to be told that I had uterine sarcoma. I didn't get much past the word Sarcoma before the shock hit and the rest of that day is still a blur. My partner and I decided to get married and make the most of every moment from then on.

Back then it was the thing to insert HRT into the wound at the time of a hysterectomy if the patient had decided to go that route so it was really no surprise in retrospect that the sarcoma metastasised to my lung by 2004 and I had the upper left lobe removed and then again in 2005 I developed more tumours in the original site, the pelvis. At this point the penny had dropped that it was a hormone receptive sarcoma and I'd stopped the HRT. The consultant sent me for palliative chemotherapy and RT and told me there was nothing else they could do.

I hibernated for months, sick with chemo and the bowel searing radiation treatments then one morning I woke up feeling that actually I wasn't going to die.

We moved to East Yorkshire and went to St James Hospital where I was to continue the 6 monthly ct scans. The consultant there re-tested my samples and said that while they probably wouldn't have given me the chemo or RT they still had hormone blocker treatment up their sleeve so not to panic! 

That was in 2007, since then I've been having yearly scan then two yearly scans and even showing a little shrinkage of the tumours. A miracle, no new growth in all those years!

Last year I was feeling pain in one breast, since pain isn't on the list of worrying indicators I ignored that. Naively I thought that CT scans would show all nasties so I didn't go for mammograms. When I began having a nipple discharge and then the nipple began to pull in, I went for a mammogram. It showed a little area of microcalcifications, not too worrying they said, we'll have you back in a year. Two weeks ago I had a stereotactic biopsy of the breast since the little calcifications had increased a lot in 12 months. 

Lab report yesterday says extensive DCIS, mastectomy booked in just over two week time.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me to stay lucky :-)