The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘If you find a lump don’t wait... take life in your hands’
Christine Klein writes on her journey to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month
OCTOBER, with its cooler air and longer evenings, has arrived. A peaceful time where things quieten down but it is also the month in which we get reminded of something of utmost importance.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. And in a time when breast cancer is seemingly spreading like wildfire, information is more critical than ever!
When in March last year the “C-word” was expressed to me by my wonderful surgeon on that fateful day I was no different than any other woman being served with these life-crushing news. My whole life had been shattered, in the blink of an eye!
A natural food lover with solid health, a passionate writer and holistic Soul Coach, who “knew a thing or two” and no family history! It didn’t make any sense! Nevertheless.
I went through it, all of it. The endless tests, life-saving surgeries, harsh course of chemotherapy including loss of hair, emergency hospital visits in between and countless tearful “Why me’s?”.
While I am sitting here writing, my arm and back hurt and the sciatica I developed at the end of chemo is constantly cautioning me to take it slowly.
Reminding me daily that it hasn’t ended with the hair grown back or my rediscovered, still slightly arduous smile.
Yet here I stand. A year later. With the promised thick “Chemo curls” growing and the unbreakable will to adjust to a new “normal”. Because one thing is sure - cancer changes everything. Including you!
That’s why the constant phrase “You look great!” by people who certainly mean well, bothers you quite a bit. While you are aware that if you are not “in it” it is impossible to have an idea of the acrimonious reality of breast cancer, it still stings. Because it suggests that after the completion of treatment, everything is well again. And it’s not.
Once you are finished and tackle the typical “one day at a time” part, you return to your former appearance. The body doesn’t. Cancer is invisible.
Like the chronic pains all over the body, the constant fatigue which makes it impossible to manage a day without a nap or the frustration of not being able to concentrate on the simplest things, as “chemo brain” is real.
However, the biggest challenge is probably the realisation that many of the things you were able to do before now take a huge toll on you.
And if that’s not enough there is also this other part the majority of breast cancer affected women are forced to undergo. Removing the breast(s), one or often, as in my case, both. A huge impact not only on the body but the soul too, with weeks of plastic containers, filled with blood and tissue, hanging off your chest which you are obliged to empty several times a day and leaving everlasting scars.
Inside out.
Along with the potentially lengthy process of reconstruction of the amputated breasts. For me personally, this was never an option, I went flat by choice, a very personal decision.
There is nothing pretty, pink or cute about breast cancer. Despite the pink ribbons, bags and T-shirts society throws at us. A cheering pink group of women running 5k for a cure wearing pink everything, how fun! At this stage breast cancer seems to have almost become something “cool” or “modern”. But it is not.
Breast cancer is ugly, full of agony, often causing permanent damage or changes at the least.
The advances modern medicine has made are fantastic, since women today, in fact, survive cancer, unlike in the past when a diagnosis often automatically meant death. This achievement saves lives, every single day.
Still, the number of women developing breast cancer is on the rise!
According to Breast Cancer research worldwide, 1 in 8 women will develop Breast Cancer in their lifetime. 1 in 3 of these women will get metastatic breast cancer and all women who die of breast cancer, die from Stage IV metastatic breast cancer.
But having said this, there is also the scientific research that 96 per cent of the women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer free after fiveyears, so no reason to despair!
The key to survival is early detection!
My “luck” was that I discovered my lump at an early stage and reacted instantly. That saved my life.
Still, some of us tend to disregard the regular recommended mammograms and self-checks. Therefore ladies, get out and get checked!
Seize the great opportunity for mammograms either in mobile screening units or at your local BreastCheck clinics all over Ireland!
And if you find a lump, don’t wait, don’t be afraid - you can survive! Let’s take life in our hands - we are worth it.
ONCE YOU ARE FINISHED, YOU RETURN TO YOUR FORMER APPEARANCE. THE BODY DOESN’T... CANCER IS INVISIBLE