Interview 30

Age at interview: 59

Brief Outline:

Attended for routine breast screening. Diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2000. Had lumpectomy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.

Background:

A social worker. Divorced with 3 adult children.

Found being recalled and waiting for her test results extremely worrying as she felt something was wrong.

I went for my normal mammogram, it was my second one, and I got a letter on the Saturday morning saying that I had to return on the Tuesday. Now part of me thought this is it, and I was quite accepting of it. My youngest daughter kept saying, "You're always a pessimist. This'll just be they took the film wrong." My son was more in tune with me and he was very concerned. 

Went and had the mammogram, and she showed me it and she says, "You know, just there was something not clear there." I could see something on the mammogram.

My son kept phoning me on my mobile, "What's happening? What have they said?" So then they took me in and they did a biopsy, which I found really painful [laughs] and they did a scan at the same time, as they scanned, they did the biopsy. And then they called in another doctor, pathologist in, and they asked him to do another two. And the radiologist I presume it was that did the scan, said it's very dry isn't it? And I thought, why don't they just tell me what's going on as they're doing this. They were saying things like, "I know this is probably a bit painful." And I would say, "No, it is really painful." and you had to keep waiting in between, and the waiting is, I know it was quick in comparison to somebody waiting for an appointment for two weeks or something, but that afternoon to me was like ten hours. 

So I came out and they told me I'd have to wait for perhaps another hour, and I went into the waiting room. My son phoned again, and I told him yes there was something but they didn't know whether it was malignant or not. 
 

The surgeon explained what he would do.

I went in and the surgeon spoke to me and told me that I had a malignant tumour. And he got me up on the couch to examine me, and of course the first place he touched was, obviously where the lump was, but it was also where they had done the biopsy and I said it was very painful. And he said, 'Oh right, that's the only reason?' and I said, 'Yes' that was the only reason and he then sat me down beside him and he said that I would be admitted to the hospital the following, this was a Tuesday, I would be admitted the following Tuesday. 

He would do, he called it a partial mastectomy and they would take some lymph nodes out at the same time.

A bleeding nipple was examined- no cause was found and the bleeding stopped by itself.

So when I was twenty-two I had trouble with my right breast. And there was a little leakage of blood, and it was checked out at the hospital in Belfast and it was clear. I think they only checked it because of my mother's background. She didn't have breast cancer that I'm aware of, but you're talking fifty odd years ago so she may well have had breast cancer and her abdomen, the cancer in her abdomen may have been secondary, we don't know. 

I was told they didn't think it was anything, but they got me referred to... I was actually working in England at the time. I was coming back home here and they got me referred to a local hospital. There was blood and like fluid coming out of the nipple. Didn't find what was wrong with it. 

What tests did they do? 

Didn't do an awful lot, they just checked it and, I mean, you're talking over thirty years ago. And I don't think they would have except for my mother's history. 

So they just looked at you? 

Yes. 

You didn't have any tests? 

No. 

You went back home. What happened? 

It just, it stopped of its own accord, and it never happened in between again. 

She went for screening because she felt that every woman was potentially at risk of getting...

So, if I was going to ask you, right at the beginning, what were your reasons for going for screening, what would you say?

Because I felt it was a possibility. It's a possibility for every woman and I just, I think if I found a lump it would take me longer to go to the doctor, because of the fear. And it was much better going and getting it seen to early on. So I was delighted when I reached fifty to have that done.

Were you expecting the letter? 

Yes. And in fact, I think it was just after my, it must have been about six or seven months after my fiftieth birthday so I sort of was a bit annoyed they didn't see me straight away, but obviously they saw me in time.