I had a biopsy last week.  They took two samples, one for the outpatient clinic (there and then) and one for a more in-depth analysis by pathology.  I was asked to come back because they'd had no answers from the basic tests available in the clinic and had to wait for pathology to give them the results from their sample.

My appointment was yesterday and the consultant asked me what I was told when they gave me an ultrasound and took the biopsy.  I was told what it wasn't - a cyst, an abscess or a fibroadenoma - but nothing about what it was.  She said, "Well, you have breast cancer.  Sorry to blurt it out like that."

I had no problem with the way she told me because as I said, there's no way to sugar coat it.  I was told clearly, concisely, with no euphemisms which meant I'd have to 'guess' I had cancer and then ask the question, "Does that mean I have cancer?".  I really appeciated her directness and honesty.

It turns out that my particular type of cancer is very rare, which is why they were unable to detect it from the out-patient clinc biopsy sample. 

Mentally, I'd already prepared myself for it, so I feel fine.  It's just one of those things x

I "knew" I had cancer before the test results were confirmed, the doctor called me on the phone with the news.  He was kind and supportive but did not sugar coat anything.  When I was first diagnosed I couldn't even say the word cancer, I just called it the Big C.  It has been fourteen years since that day and some days it still feels like a weird dream.

I "knew" I had cancer before the test results were confirmed, the doctor called me on the phone with the news.  He was kind and supportive but did not sugar coat anything.  When I was first diagnosed I couldn't even say the word cancer, I just called it the Big C.  It has been fourteen years since that day and some days it still feels like a weird dream.