I joined this forum to find support and other people who are going through similar feelings and emotions to myself and if possible to offer any support I can to other people who feel it would help listening to others.
My Mum was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2009. She originally went to the doctors for a pain in her shoulder when her GP decided to check her breasts. It was then she found a lump and referred her to hospital for a biopsy. When the results returned it was then we found she had grade 3 Breast Cancer.
Soon after she went for surgery to have to lump removed along with some lymph nodes to find out whether the cancer had spread. She also had a course of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy following. After the results were back that it had not spread to the lymph nodes and the Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy was finished she was finally in remission.
3 years later in 2012 she was again in a lot of pain with her neck and it didn't register with us at all that the cancer could be back. Not even her GP thought of the possibility. He simply gave her acupuncture and sent her on her way. Still in agony she was referred to hospital where they carried out further testing and soon found out that the cancer had come back with a vengeance and spread to her bones in her neck. All but a few of her vertebrae in her neck were crumbling away due to the cancer.
She then went for surgery to have pins and rods put in place to help support her neck and head. Unfortunately this time there was no cure. Again she went through more Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy to slow down the process and help with the pain and she was also given anti cancer medication.
For the next 2 years she was stable and they kept a close eye on her with regular bone scans and blood tests. The cancer would slowly spread to other parts of her bones but they were happy that she was stable and everything was working the way it should be.
In 2015 the anti cancer drugs stopped working.. They put her on different ones but time and time again the same thing would happen. She also had multiple blood transfusions to which eventually gave us some very bad news. On 14th November 2016 we were given the news that there was nothing more they could do. After a recent blood transfusion revealed that her blood count had not returned to normal which could only mean the cancer had spread to her bone marrow. We were also given the news that the cancer had finally reached an organ, her brain. From there no more treatment was offered and we were sent home.
Mum wasn't scared anymore, she had accepted what was happening to her. She quickly deteriorated and on 26th December 2016 she passed away at the age of 53. Watching my mum pass away was the hardest thing me and my family have ever had to do. Our hearts are broken, she was taken too soon.
