Positivity and looking ahead

 

Hello everyone! Daphne and I are outside enjoying a coffee on this late summer day. It's starting to feel a little like autumn.

And I am feeling so much better! Officially past the eight weeks post-surgery mark and the infection is gone too. I'm still taking it easy but it's so nice to feel a little bit more normal.

Soon I’m travelling to Palmerston North, which is a couple of hours drive, to attend a planning meeting for my radiotherapy. And then not long after that I will be booked in for a week’s worth of treatment.

I’m grateful that all my other treatment, surgery etc has been local, but we don’t have a radiation department here in Hawke’s Bay.

And after that I should be finished up with all the big stuff, just my five-year Letrozole medication to take. I’m sure it will fly by. The years do now 😊

I had my hair trimmed too. When I thought I was going to have to have chemo and lose my hair I thought it would be nice to try a bob before that happened.

Once I found out I didn't have to have chemo I still decided to give it a go so now I have a long bob. There is only a little bit of colour right on the tips so most of the colour is mine now.

My greys provide natural highlights in my beige blonde, yay! It's so lovely and healthy compared with the coloured hair too, and I can wear it wavy/curly if I air dry it.

I’m pleased to say I have been feeling a bit more creative too. I still get tired easily but I can feel the excitement for my writing coming back.

I always have multiple books on the go, but I’m writing about my breast cancer experience currently, and will be covering three broad areas:

1. My journey with breast cancer
2. Helpful tips if you are going through a tough time health-wise too
3. Encouragement and support for those who have a loved one with a health challenge

So hopefully it will be an uplifting read for anyone, really. It won’t be doom and gloom but it will be ‘real’.

And, I think useful for anyone facing a health crisis, because I knew nothing about anything before I was diagnosed and now I reckon I could be a health professional I’ve learned so much over the past four months! 🤣

Hugs to you!
xx Fiona

Sunny days ahead (after the clouds have passed)

{Beautiful flowers from my lovely neighbour Anna ❤️ I love dahlias!}

 

Hello friends 😊

Every week is a new chapter around here, I tell you.

A few days after my previous post my left underarm (the biopsy side) became very sore and swollen and I thought I’d overdone my lymphatic arm exercises.

Then I noticed the skin becoming pink, then red, and the breast cancer specialist physio I had an appointment with that day said I needed to see a doctor for antibiotics NOW.

I started the medicine straight away but it stayed terrible, so painful! On Saturday morning Paul took me to the Emergency Department at our local hospital and they admitted me, saying I’d likely have to have surgery for an ‘infected seroma’ which is ‘serious but not uncommon’ after biopsy surgery.

Thankfully I did not end up having surgery, instead having a needle aspiration with a L O N G needle (thank goodness for lots of local anaesthetic and a very skilled radiology doctor). Plus IV antibiotics and strong pain meds.

They were happy to let me go yesterday and it was so nice to come home and see the doggies and Ninacat.

And yes I do see the irony: I spent twice the amount of time in hospital for this infection than for my original breast cancer surgery!

:: PRIVATE INSTAGRAM ::

As if that wasn’t enough, I’ve had some kind of bot attack on my Instagram account, and my followers have increased by over 2,000 in the last week or so, with a ton of silly bot comments.

There is no other way to deal with them than to delete each account individually 😢 And if I don’t, Instagram might think I’ve bought followers and delete my account.

So I’ve had to temporarily make my Instagram account private (to stem the flow, haha) while I tidy up this crazy mess.

If the worst happens and my account is deleted, you can find all my links at fionaferris.com

Go find me there now and bookmark it just in case you lose me on IG😮

So yes, it’s been quite the drama-filled week or two. Onwards and upwards though, and I’m SO happy to be back at home and on the mend.

I hope you had a calmer week than I did, and all my best to you!

x Fiona

Excellent news - something to celebrate

 

Hello friends,

I’ve had a big week! The first and most exciting thing is that I found out I am NOT having chemotherapy.

When Paul and I met with the oncology doctor last Tuesday, she put all my information into a fancy online calculator called ‘Predict’, specifically for breast cancer.

It shows the percentage likelihood someone will still be alive after 15 years (the longest the calculator could calculate) and then you could toggle treatments on and off to see the difference each made.

I’m still having radiation and also doing hormone therapy (a medicine called Letrozole – for five years!) but these both have ‘minimal’ side effects apparently.

Of course we all know about how horrible chemotherapy is, even if it’s just anecdotally or even from the movies.

Well, apparently I would only receive a 1% better benefit from having chemo, and because it’s so hard on the body, they only strongly recommend it when there is a 5% or more benefit.

The doctor almost seemed giddy when she was showing me my results that she already knew. I wondered why she was so peppy when we came into her office!

Of course no-one knows what the future will bring, but for now, I’m a happy person. I walked out of there feeling light as air, with that ‘let out of school early’ feeling.

Suddenly, a week of radiation and five years of medicine seem like nothing 😊 So I wanted to share that amazing news.

My mum took me to Craggy Range winery for lunch the next day to celebrate (Paul was so sad he was working that day), and we hosted English relatives for dinner on Friday night. 

 

 

 

They are only here until next week, so we couldn’t put it off until I could do more to help, so Paul did EVERYTHING. All the cooking, cleaning, and dishes. He is a good cook too ❤️

And my mum and aunty brought dessert.

I set the table and took a nap, that’s all! 😉

Our guests brought me these pretty flowers and fancy chocolate.

 

 

 

And just look what a kind, thoughtful reader sent me - a gift voucher for Fortnum & Mason to order teas to sip on as I recuperate.

 

 

 

They arrived this week. I am so humbled at this generous gift, thank you Ann! It’s all been delicious so far 😊

 

 

 

 I hope you all had a lovely week too!

xx Fiona