Brave cancer survivors front up to NZ
CONFRONTING ADS WARN 20-YEAR-OLDS OF BREAST CANCER
A young Kiwi woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every day on average – and that little-known danger has prompted an in-yourface new awareness campaign.
The cancer is often seen as an issue only for middle-aged women – but now the Breast Cancer Foundation is raising the alarm among women in their 20s and 30s.
A new advertising campaign, launching today to mark the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, features three New Zealand women posing topless to recreate classic paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt. The women in those paintings, according to an art history expert, show some of the visual signs of the cancer.
Kelly McDiarmid was 37 when she found a lump on her right breast. When she went to get checked, various health professionals said she was too young.
However, the Hamilton woman said she’d rather be safe than sorry. A mammogram, ultrasound then biopsy confirmed cancer.
It was a shock for McDiarmid, who was a fit runner. ‘‘I have always been a checker. So my advice is, if you feel something in your breast and don’t know what it is – get it checked,’’ she said.
The lump was removed, but the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
She had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, and chose not to have reconstruction surgery.
‘‘I wanted them off right from the beginning. They threatened my life – I don’t need them, I don’t want them,’’ McDiarmid said. ‘‘My breasts had done their job, they had fed my three children. They did not define me.’’
Most women diagnosed with cancer are over 45, which is why the Ministry of Health funds free mammograms for them, every two years.
But 6 per cent of women under 30 are also affected, according to the foundation. That is why chief executive Evangelia Henderson is calling on young women to be ‘‘breast aware’’ from age 20 – to know how their breasts normally look and feel, and to see a doctor if there are changes.
The foundation also says women aged between 40 and 45 should get mammograms, even if they have to pay themselves.
Henderson said women diagnosed early with breast cancer today could deal with it, and live full and healthy lives; not so the women who modelled for Rembrandt and Rubens.
‘‘While the hidden danger within the original masterpieces is tragic, we also wanted to show that with the right knowledge and awareness, breast cancer can be overcome,’’ she said.
McDiarmid finished her cancer treatment in April this year. Now, she is focused on keeping fit and healthy for her and her family – and posing for the ad campaign was a chance to get the message out to other women.
There were even silver linings. Her petite frame no longer has the weight of F-cup breasts – she said running was now a lot easier, and is aiming for a half-marathon.
‘‘The kids say: ‘Mum, you can mow the lawn like Dad now – with your shirt off!’ Which always has me laughing.’’
Mum, you can mow the lawn like Dad now – with your shirt off!