The wonderful world of pre op.

Good evening blog fans!

I know I've kept you waiting a few days for an update on the crazy world of Meg and Larry but worry not, it's finally here! Now, I apologise in advance about this post as there really isn't that much to tell you all; don't stop reading just yet though, I promise I'll try to make you smile anyway.

I have mainly spent my time distracting myself by making things for my upcoming wedding. Yes it is still upcoming, nothing is being stopped because of Larry. He can get lost, we're still getting married in 2018 and it's still going to be awesome - shabby chic awesome to be exact. Worst case scenario is that I am bald and that just means I get to wear an awesome wig, right? Right.

The other thing I have been doing, embarrassingly, is telephoning the poor Macmillan breast care nurses with any and every question that pops into my head. I honestly bet those lovely ladies regret giving me their phone number now, I can almost hear them inwardly sighing when they realise it's me, but they have been absolutely amazing and are currently resisting actually outwardly sighing - which would be very awkward. In all seriousness I cannot fault them at all - big up those nurses. When this is all over (which it totally will be) I am 100% fundraising for Macmillan, they deserve it.

Now for the proper update, and the reason I have written this post - today was my pre-operation assessment appointment, which was pretty standard; height, weight, blood pressure, health questionnaire etc etc. Nothing much to report on except two things: firstly the staff at St Albans hospital are amazing, I have not met anyone yet who I haven't liked so a big thank you to them all; secondly (and maybe most importantly) today I found out that I HAVE SHRUNK! By two centimetres! What is that about?!? Talk about kicking me when I'm down, eh? Thanks for that, gravity. Warren thoroughly loved that, he made sure he mentioned it a good few times during the car journey home!

So, ta dah! That's my update for you so far. Tune in next week as I'll be discussing my MRI (fun topic, right?) and the experience of, what I imagine it will be like having not had one before, being squeezed in a machine like a tube of toothpaste. Miss it and miss out!

Also if I haven't made you smile yet, like I promised I would - here's one of my favourite terrible jokes:

What did the cheese say when it looked in the mirror?

Halloumi.

You're welcome, feel free to reuse that one.

Love, Meg and Larry xx

P.S. Liking my story? Why not follow or subscribe by email below? I promise I won't bombard you with lots of blog posts, I'm strictly a every few weeks kinda gal.

The big reveal.

I know what you're thinking - another flipping update?

Don't worry, it's a quick one today; just a bit of advice for anyone who is reading this (now or in the future) and they themselves have recently been diagnosed with cancer. 

That one bit of advice is tell people. 

It doesn't matter how you do it, no one cares if it's face-to-face or not, just flipping well do it. Today I told a whole load of friends (again, via the wonder that is Whatsapp - still not completely over the crying problem when I say it out loud) and I am glad that I did tell them. The amount of support I have received today is phenomenal, way beyond what I ever imagined; I have never felt stronger in my life and it is down to all those people. It makes me think that I do have the power to kick Larry's arse and that is what I plan to do.

If you are reading this and you are one of those people who found out today (or any day since my diagnosis, let's not ignore those brilliant people too, OK?) then from the bottom of my heart I thank you. You are, and forever will be, awesome in my eyes. Feel free to put that on your CV, if you're lucky I may even make you all badges.

If you are reading this at any point in the future and are coping with a new diagnosis please please tell people. It doesn't have to be everyone but someone once said "a problem shared is a problem halved". I don't know who said it and I can't really be bothered to find out (got bigger problems over here, alright? Cut me some slack guys), but for me it was definitely relevant today. Larry's not going anywhere just yet but every time someone gives me support I feel like the problem that is Larry gets smaller in my mind. And that's enough for now.

Love, Meg and Larry xx

P.S. Liking my story? Why not follow or subscribe by email below? I promise I won't bombard you with lots of blog posts, I'm strictly a every few weeks kinda gal.

Day one.

Me again! 

Today was my first full day of living with the fact that I now have cancer, such a cheerful thought, right? Surprisingly enough, today has been a good day.

It started with an early trip to the hospital for some pretty standard blood tests; big shout out to St Albans Hospital blood clinic - I was in and out in about half an hour, it was brilliant! During this trip I decided that it was time to tell my closest friends, I would be upset if they found out by accident so felt that today was a good day to tell them. Shamefully this was via the not-very-personal medium that is Whatsapp, I am sad about that but at this stage I struggle to explain it to people without bursting into very messy tears. So that was that. Afterwards I was very glad that I had told them as I was then enveloped in a whole load of love, which was very much needed on my first official day of dealing with the fact that Larry is, to put it bluntly, an arsehole. Tell me off for swearing if you want but it's the truth, he is just that. Next step is to tell everyone else but I haven't quite got to that yet, there's always tomorrow (in my case I hope this phrase continues to be true for many years to come).

Other than that today has been beautifully mundane; a day of dog walking, crocheting and watching crime shows with Warren (who worked from home today). You know what? I have loved every minute of it - I'm not feeling particularly mundane with these current events so it's nice to think that life goes on pretty much the same in spite of Larry (the arsehole). So yeah, that's my day, hope yours was awesome too.

Love, Meg and Larry xx

P.S. Liking my story? Why not follow or subscribe by email below? I promise I won't bombard you with lots of blog posts, I'm strictly a every few weeks kinda gal.

The beginning....

Welcome!

Firstly I would like to explain to you the reasoning behind my oddly named blog, my name is Megan and I have recently (as recently as today, in fact) been diagnosed with breast cancer. Hence the blog.

"But wait", I hear you say, "I still don't know who Larry is?" Well, it all started 1st January this year when I found a lump in my breast. Then came a whole mayhem of GP appointments, ultrasound scans, mammograms and finally a biopsy to take a sample and test for the big C. After this I then had to wait a week for the results, during this time I happened to read somewhere that if you give something a name it becomes slightly less terrifying; from this Larry the Lump was born.

So this blog is for me to make sense of my journey with Larry and his upcoming eviction (whether he likes it or not) on 13th Feb, when I will be having a lumpectomy and tests on my lymph nodes to determine whether or not the cancer has spread. I say it is for me but if you're reading it then you're also invited to come along for the ride - buckle in though, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a bumpy one. The plan is to make a post for each step of the journey and also for when I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed, so we'll see!

Which leads me nicely to the title of this post, aptly named the beginning; today is the day I was told that my worst nightmare had come true. I'm currently feeling adequately numb but that numbness is chipped away at slightly every time I have to tell someone new. My fiance Warren was with me for the appointment (thank god, I didn't absorb half the information I was meant to) but we have since told my family, his aunt and one of my very close friends. For now that is enough, I cannot face everyone knowing at the moment but I am aware that I can't live like that for the whole journey. Maybe I'll rent a billboard? Or send a flyer? It's the face to face that I can't deal with but at the same time I feel like a message is too impersonal. Oh well, I'll figure that one out soon I'm sure.

Next steps are blood tests, an MRI (apparently because I'm 27 I have very "dense breast tissue". Who knew, eh? AND he said that after seeing me without a bra, I'm taking it as a very strange compliment) and then the big surgery on the 13th. I like having a step-by-step plan, I've discovered a plan keeps me calm.

Finally hello to you, if you've made it this far and not passed out from boredom then I thank you and hope you'll stay with me throughout this madness. I hope you and all your family/friends are well, nobody ever deserves to go through this and I hope you never have to.

Love, Meg and Larry xx

P.S. Liking my story? Why not follow or subscribe by email below? I promise I won't bombard you with lots of blog posts, I'm strictly a every few weeks kinda gal.