‘It was important to share the news and talk about it’

30 March, 2022 | By Ingrid Fuchs

The next step was how I was going to tell everybody at work about my cancer diagnosis. I wanted to have it out in the open. The next step was how I was going to tell everybody at work about my cancer diagnosis. I wanted to have it out in the open. I felt that this would be much easier for me, but how was I going to do it? I didn’t want to have to tell everybody face to face. I was afraid that I would be crying and making everybody upset. I decided to text my main medical colleagues the histology results so that they would be prepared.

I was worried that my working day on Tuesday was going to be a really bad day, seeing everybody, but it was actually OK. I was able to work like I normally do and distance myself from my feelings. Everybody was really lovely and supportive, trying to speed investigations up.

It would be best to start with chemotherapy as soon as possible, as that is the best way to treat the tumour, and then surgery and radiotherapy afterwards. The question was where I wanted to be treated – locally or in Bristol.

We decided that it was going to be Bath because it’s much closer to my home. I was so grateful for the speed at which everything was happening. Starting chemotherapy two weeks after histology is better than VIP treatment! I do realise how hard it must be for women to have the uncertainty of waiting for the outcome of a diagnosis and the start of treatment.

In the appointment with the oncologist, the chemotherapy treatment was explained. It was important that my husband was there too, as he is more familiar with the pharmacology of the different drugs, how they chemically work and their side-effects.

Basically, I will have eight cycles. First, four cycles of one cocktail of drugs every three weeks, and then four cycles of a different chemotherapy weekly, with one extra drug added every three weeks.

After the discussion I was brought to the chemotherapy suite, and I was surprised to see a few ex-colleagues I worked with in the past, who were still working there. It will be nice to see familiar faces when I am going for treatment.

I’m so happy that I am familiar with the processes, the treatments and side-effects of chemotherapy, otherwise, I imagine it would all be overwhelming. I had blood taken for the chemo, genetic testing and a flu jab. A Covid-19 booster was arranged for the weekend. Almost ready to go.

Everybody reacts very differently to traumatic news, for me it was especially important to share the news and talk about it, I think it helps me with coming to terms with it. I would still have to tell the news to my family in the Netherlands, but I felt that it would be better to tell them once I knew the outcome of the MRI and CT scans, which I would have in the coming week.

The weekend was nice, I felt that life was almost like normal again: my husband singing in the kitchen, me going again for a run with a friend. I wondered how active I would be able to stay once the chemotherapy started. Hopefully, I still can run, perhaps at an easy pace, gym or walk – let’s see!

I ordered two books about triple-negative breast cancer, one partly clinical and partly stories about patients with this particular breast cancer. The other book is for clinicians. Some women don’t want to read much as they are hoping for the best. I want to know exactly what the facts are and the statistics, I like to be fully prepared.

This blog was originally published in the Nursing Times. Many thanks to them for sharing Ingrid's story.