Page 337 - She's One Crazy Lady!

was admitted to the Geddington Ward in the Treatment Centre at KGH a couple of weeks later; she was still quite composed but I knew how worried she was – who wouldn’t be? The ladies at Crazy Hats were all so supportive and Marilyn always told me how comforted and reassured she felt by being able to talk through her concerns with them, for there were about five ladies at that time all going through similar treatment.
Marilyn’s consultant told us it was the biggest lumpectomy he had ever performed but after a one night stay she was allowed home – having to return several times when she developed haematomas and her wound had to be drained.
For me, to have your best friend, being diagnosed, was a bombshell and all kinds of thoughts were going through my mind as to whether she would be OK – or not. All I could do was to be there for her and to help her get to and from appointments. We compared notes often.
Cancer was found to be in one of Marilyn’s lymph nodes and I thought she would be offered a mastectomy. This didn’t happen but she did have to have six sessions of chemotherapy – with the same drugs administered as I had – three FEC and three Taxotere – all to be given at The Centenary Wing at KGH.
Like me, like so many ladies, the thought of losing her hair really upset her, so she bravely elected to try the ‘Cold Cap’ for the first session, in the hope that hair loss could be prevented or at least, minimalised. I was with her when they fitted the ‘Biggles’ contraption on her head, with a very tight strap under her chin. She looked so, so uncomfortable as she sat there for almost three hours. (This was the afternoon before Mum was to pass away the next day so I left Marilyn to see Mum, of course.) On my return to pick Marilyn up and they took the Cold Cap off I was startled by the ice crystals that had formed on her hair!! I had to admire her courage but wasn’t surprised when she said, “No more!”
Personally, I felt that she coped with the chemotherapy very well. She had side effects, naturally, but handled them well, even coming into the office when she felt well enough and when there was only Linda or myself there as we didn’t want to subject her to the masses in fear of infection. The three sessions of Taxotere were harder and once she was admitted to the Talbot Butler Ward with neutropenia after her temperature spiked and she became unwell. But, as I say, despite there being slight concerns and a few anxious times, she really did cope well – Marilyn putting this down to having other people around her who understood exactly how she felt, both physically and mentally; “Thank goodness for Crazy Hats” was what she often said.
Twenty sessions of radiotherapy followed her chemotherapy which, again, went quite smoothly – Marilyn embarrassed that Dr Matthew, who we had got to know very well, was her Oncologist! (He was lovely with her!) Because of her triple Negative Breast Cancer she was made aware the cancer cells didn’t have receptors for the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, or a protein called HER2 and, therefore, would not respond to hormonal therapy medicines so there was no
“
she really
did cope well
– Marilyn
putting this
down to having
other people
around her who
understood
exactly how
she felt, both
physically
and mentally;
“Thank
goodness for
Crazy Hats” was
what she often
said. ”
337