What were the symptoms that led to being diagnosed?
6 years ago (May 2015) I sat in front of my doctor as she instructed my husband: “You have to listen carefully as Fiona won’t hear much of what I’m about to say”. I had dense breasts, which increases your risk of cancer, so I was having mammograms earlier than the recommended age of 50. The lump that led me to the check-up was a cyst but hiding in the other breast there was cancer. In fact, as an MRI would reveal one week later, 3 cancers.
What was your experience of treatment?
So began various procedures and 3 operations to remove and reconstruct my breasts. Luckily, I didn’t require chemo or radiation as there was no spread to my lymph nodes but as cancer can also spread via the blood, I needed hormone blocking treatment as my type of cancer was fed by estrogen. This would prove to be the hardest part of my experience and led me down a few complicated paths searching for alternatives until I resigned myself and managed to endure the side effects for 5 years.
What have you learnt from your experience?
Check your breasts regularly and trust your instincts if something does not feel right for you.
Balance is fundamental. Reduce stress and learn you often can’t do it all, some things have to be sacrificed.
For me that means focus on family and fitness and less on my career drive. Eat well and exercise daily. Reduce sugar and other inflammatory foods. Know the risks of alcohol consumption. My surgeon reckons it’s the main contributor why there is such an increase in younger women with the disease.
When it comes to supporting others, try to avoid platitudes and comparable stories. Learn to just be with another’s pain without trying to remove it or fix it. Be mindful calling it ‘a journey’. I don’t mind, but the first fellow ‘traveller’ I encountered highlighted that for some they resent it being positioned like an adventure trip. For me it kinda was though – with many painful, arduous terrains but also incredible highs. The love and support I felt from others was beyond imagined. I also had this experience which I identify as ‘post traumatic growth’.
The world felt more beautiful and I had more acceptance for everything and everyone, including myself. Nowadays this state ebbs and flows, but I still get ‘that high’ when I’m out in nature watching the sunrise with my running buddies. I never take anything for granted, especially being here for my 16 year old daughter. There’s so much joy in turning 50 (May 2021) and how pleased I am I didn’t wait until now to go for that first mammogram!
