Mini Me Update [03/04/26] : My Mum’s Cancer Diagnosis

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How are you all doing? This year hasn’t got off to the best start in our household, but we’re certainly looking forward to the brighter weather that’s hopefully around the corner as we inch into spring and summer. As you may have noticed, I’ve not been blogging frequently for a while due to chronic illness, lack of time and general overwhelm with everything. I won’t be around much over the next few weeks either so I thought I’d do a little Mini Me update in the interim, primarily letting you know about my mum’s recent cancer diagnosis. 

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My Mum’s Cancer Diagnosis

It breaks my heart to even write this, but my mum has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Two cancers, in fact. She’s 77, turning 78 next month, and already struggles with pain and mobility problems from severe spinal issues, osteoarthritis, side-effects from a cache of medications, and heart failure. When she told me about finding a lump, I rationalised that it would be too unfair for it to be cancer. It couldn’t be cancer. But of course life doesn’t work that way to equally ration out tragedies and diseases. Often those with health problems are greedy and just continue to accrue more problems. 

There are some positives in her diagnosis and the two cancers appear limited to one boob. The plan is to proceed with a single mastectomy, and at the same time remove some lymph nodes to assess those. Scans don’t show any lymph node involvement but it won’t be until weeks after surgery that this can be confirmed. That’s a worry we are trying to ignore for now. She’s been started on a medication, Anastrozole, to “turn off” the oestrogen-driven cancer to help prevent anything worsening, and will likely continue on this for several years.

We’ve been back and forth to different appointments. We’ve heard the scary reality of surgical risks with pre-existing cardiac issues, and yet surgery is the only way to remove the tumours. Despite living very close to a big hospital, we’ll have to travel a little to another city for the procedure. Good job I can drive! She’ll be at a hospital used for high risk patients, and I know she’ll be well looked after. 

A mastectomy is often a day case procedure but there’s a chance she’ll stay overnight. It’s scheduled for the 7th April and we have to be there bright and breezy, so I doubt I’ll be going to bed that night. It’ll be an early start to get there, then it’ll be a case of waiting as you never know where you’ll be on the surgical list. I’ll be staying around the hospital, no doubt going out of my mind. I’m trying to swallow down and ignore the rampant terror and concern and general shitty-ness I feel right now and staying busy getting things done at home and getting stuff prepped for the hospital.

This will be the first day of the latest Resident Doctors strike (formerly Junior Doctors) across England. For the 16th time since March 2023, this dangerously obscene blackmailing method with hold public health to ransom, this time for 6 days. I’m not anticipating it to impact my mum’s surgery but it will inevitably disrupt a lot of care and treatment appointments, and I feel for those patients who will be affected.

I’ve been on the other side of this as a patient several times. The pre-op, the prep, the physical and mental getting-ready for surgery. My mum being there to listen when I need to talk and never really showing too much fear. I don’t know how she did it. I hate being on this supporter-vs-patient side. I would do anything to swap places with her. It feels so damn unfair. 

So many people get cancer at some point in their lives. Everyone knows someone, if not several someones, who’ve had cancer. Cancer doesn’t care who you are, what you’ve faced already, how old you are. But it always hurts and feels unfair when it’s someone you love and when you know they’ve already been struggling. There’s cancer on both sides of my family. Most notably a cousin who has been through the mill with it over years, and my mum’s sister who has lived and dealt with it since a cancer diagnosis two decades ago. I personally think that she and her husband have done fabulously through it all and despite it all, and I can only imagine how difficult it has been for them. I know their experience and courage is helping keep my mum’s anxieties in check in a little. 

I’ll try to update on social media when I can ( @invisiblymeblog Facebook   ||   Twitter  ||  Instagram )

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Other News :

My Surgery

It feels rather pointless even thinking about my health stuff right now, let alone writing about it. I would just say that the surgery I’d be waiting more than 8 years for was supposed to be happening by autumn 2025. Guess what? It didn’t happen.

It has now been cancelled and postponed as they feel I’m unfit for surgery: the risk of complications and death are too high. 

I was already told in 2021 that it’s a bit too-little-too-late for a surgery that should have happened several years ago. There’s so much political BS at this hospital department and I have zero trust left in the team since my original surgeons were forced out. I’ve been referred to a specialist clinic to get their opinion on my fitness and weight but right now I feel like I couldn’t care less. 

Flu Strikes (Yet Again)

We came down with flu again recently, right around the time of the diagnosis and hearing about the likelihood of surgery, which is just sod’s law. It wiped me out but thankfully my mum fared a lot better than she did around Christmas 2024 when she was very poorly. It’s bad timing but then again, better to have it out the way than to come down with it the week of surgery. 

Cluster Headache Hell

I’ve struggled with cluster headaches (initially diagnosed as migraines) for several years now, ever since my first surgery and autoimmune inflammatory problems started. It takes up so much time each day where I’m non-functional and the pain is absolutely horrific if I can’t treat it in time. I fully understand why they’re called Suicide Headaches. It’s going to take a bit of a workaround to make sure I’m not completely messed up on the run up to, and the day of, my mum’s surgery. 

Life Annoyances

There’s always something, which means you can never get the things done you need to because something else comes up. From getting screwed over by a dodgy window cleaner who’ve I’ve reported to Trading Standards, to a broken boiler that took in inordinate amount of hassle and several weeks to get fixed.

And then last weekend, a postal worker who I’d not seen before literally reversed his van straight into the back of my parked car on our driveway, hard enough to push it forwards two feet. That’s a whole other saga. You just can’t make this shit up.

I’m a bit pre-occupied with preparing practical stuff for my mum’s surgery and trying to quell what is nothing short of terror, but please know I’m not ignoring you if I can’t reply for a bit. 

So, I may not be around much over the next few weeks but I wanted to pop in to say hello and I hope you’re all keeping as well as possible. I know so many people are struggling and I’ll be thinking of you. Hang in there and hang on to hope, always. 

Happy Easter 🐰🐣

Take good care of yourselves. xx

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Caz  ♥

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