Julie

Julie

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;My name is Julie and I am 46 year old; I am married to David, a high school head teacher. ; We have two children, James who is 18 and at 6th form college and Jess who is 14 and at high school.My dad lives close by but both David’s parents are dead.

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;Three years ago I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer with spread to my bones. I underwent a left mastectomy, unfortunately my cancer has spread rapidly, and I now have secondaries in my hips, pelvis and in my right arm. ; I have had a course of radiotherapy and steroid therapy, which has eased my symptoms slightly, though I still experience pain and I get very tired easily. ; I find it difficult to manage my pain, I try to keep active by doing some swimming with Jess, but my pain always increases after. ; I don’t want to stop doing this as I know Jess really enjoys the time we spend together. ;

I have recently begun to experience some breathlessness and I am waiting for a scan to see if my cancer has spread further. ; I am still fairly independent, can drive, and help David with the kids and their activities; however I am finding this increasingly difficult, I really have to pick and choose what I do due to feeling increasingly tired. ; I wonder if this change is telling me my disease is getting worse, I do wonder about how much time I have left. ; The children still need me, how can I still be part of their life when I die. ;

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;我是Julie,今年46岁,和David结婚,他是一个高中的校长。我们有两个孩子,18岁的James在读大学,14岁的Jess在上高中。我的父亲住得理我们很近,David的父母都已经过世了。

三年前我被诊断为转移性乳腺癌已经转移到骨头了。我做了左侧乳腺切除术,但是不幸的是癌细胞扩散太快,现在已经转移到坐骨、盆骨和右臂了。做了放疗和类固醇治疗后虽然仍然很疼并容易疲乏,但还是可以稍稍减轻症状的。疼痛时很难控制的,尽管我坚持和Jess一起游泳但之后疼痛会更剧烈。我实在不想停止和Jess一起游泳,因为我能感觉到她非常乐意跟我待在一起。

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;最近我觉得有点气短正等着做个扫描看看癌细胞有没有进一步扩散。现在我依然很独立,可以开车,可以帮助David 照顾孩子以及他们的活动。我越来越觉得累,只能做一些能做的事情。我想如果说明我的疾病在恶化,那我还有多少时间。我怎么能在我的孩子们还需要我的时候离开。