TWO DOCTORS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER HAVE TEAMED UP TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE IN A BOOK TO HELP 10 things you should know about cancer
GP and surgeon on a mission to share what they have learn about disease
As October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaches, a GP and breast cancer surgeon are on a mission to share their insights.
Shock, disbelief and fear are just some of the emotions that might follow when a doctor tells you you’ve got breast cancer. It’s something more than 55,000 women and about 350 men experience every year in the UK – people who often have little idea what the coming months or years of treatment may entail.
But just because they’re usually on the other side of the consulting room, doctors aren’t immune to the disease either – and one of them, breast cancer surgeon Dr Liz O’Riordan, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, is now on a mission to share her knowledge and insights with other patients.
She’s teamed up with fellow doctor-turned-breastcancer-patient Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, to write the new book
The Complete Guide To Breast Cancer (Vermilion, £14.99). O’Riordan, 43, who was also diagnosed with a local recurrence of her breast cancer in May (meaning cancer had returned), and Greenhalgh, a GP and Oxford academic who was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 aged 56, have both had chemotherapy and mastectomies.
At the start of the book, they say: “The moment you find out that you have breast cancer, your life changes forever. Because we have both had breast cancer we know, broadly speaking, what you are going through right now.”
Here are 10 things the pair think the one in eight UK women who develop breast cancer at some point in their life should know right from the start... 1. It’s not your fault
You can’t prevent breast cancer. There are some lifestyle factors, such as smoking, being overweight and binge-drinking after the menopause, that may play a role in increased risk, but slim teetotallers and healthy-living folk get breast cancer too.
“The biggest reason women get breast cancer is simply because they are women who are getting older,” says Greenhalgh.
“Both are beyond your control. Stop feeling guilty – it’s not your fault.” 2. There are many new words to understand
There are several different types of breast cancers, depending on which bit of breast tissue the cancer grew in. Most cancers are ‘ductal’ because they grow in the milk ducts. There are other types, such as ‘lobular’ cancers which grow in the lobules (milk-producing glands) between the ducts.