First Steps

It’s often said that staring at a blank page, or in my case screen, is the hardest place to start. So I thought I’d kick things off with a very short and simple blog.

Who am I?

I’m Laura. I’m a breast cancer survivor in my mid thirties and I live in the UK. It took me a fair while to be able to use the word “survivor” and it’s still something where I feel like I’m chancing fate each time I say it. You can read a little bit more about me here.

The big “C”

I was diagnosed with cancer during the very beginning of the global Coronavirus pandemic. I had a grade 3, localised stage 3 breast cancer that was hormone receptive and was in my lymph nodes too. I received treatment from the NHS which included surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“So you’ve finished treatment now?”

This is a question I get quite often. Yes and no. I’ve finished what many people would think of as the main treatment, but I’m still on daily tablets, and injections every few months. This is to hopefully prevent a recurrance and stop the cancer ever coming back.

Why write a blog?

When I was first diagnosed, I trawled social media and websites for women like me. This was to give me hope, to help me understand and come to terms with the massive blow I’d been dealt. There’s a selfish element to this blog and that’s to help me reflect on everything I’ve been through as a bit of a catharsis. If some people who are in a similar situation happen to come across this (hello if that’s you!), then I hope that it provides a glimmer of hope and support. There’s a fantastic community of cancer patients out there and this is my way of contributing to it.