Paula McClean
In June 2011, Paula McClean was applying some fake tan in preparation for a family wedding when she felt a lump in her left breast
When she rst noticed the lump, Paula was 42, with three little girls aged 6, 4 and 2. She wasn’t worried initially. “I thought I was far too young for breast cancer; my mum didn’t have it so I didn’t think breast cancer at the time, which was naïve of me.” She didn’t do anything about it for a week or so, but kept putting a hand to her breast and thought that the lump might go away. It didn’t. “I went to my GP, still thinking it was going to be a waste of time and it was all going to be ne, but unfortunately it wasn’t.” Paula was subsequently diagnosed with Stage II invasive breast cancer. She was lucky in that it was caught early and hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes, but tests revealed the tumour was aggressive. After surgery, she began six rounds of chemotherapy. “That is possibly the hardest part of breast cancer to be honest,” she says. “It’s the reality of losing your hair, which is very di cult as I had long blonde hair. It was hard knowing what to tell my kids and my family and it was tough to say it to my Mum and Dad, because they were very worried. I was very lucky I felt quite well during treatment. I wouldn’t say I sailed through it, but I got through it and I felt emotionally well and I was still able to do things with my kids.”
After she nished chemotherapy, she wanted to draw a line, so she started running, something she’d never done before. “It made head space and I felt t and strong and healthy.” Her new exercise regime inspired her family, who also started running too and this year she and her three daughters, now aged 14, 13 and nearly 11, will be doing the Great Pink Run together. Paula opted to have reconstructive surgery one year after nishing chemo. Something she wants to emphasise is the importance of early detection. “It’s a much better, manageable outcome when you catch it early,” she says. “If you’re more body-aware and breast aware and if you feel or nd something, you’re on top of it. That’s the message that I’ll be putting across to my three girls as they become young women, that you should check yourself regularly and it’s just something you should do, like cleaning your teeth.”