Young mum’s cancer warning to others
‘I am not going to let cancer beat me . . . I am not going to lose my family or my children.’
A YOUNG mother-of-three is warning others to not dismiss breast cancer as an older person’s disease after she mistook a lump for a blocked milk duct.
Chanel Clarke, 34, was diagnosed with breast cancer in December – turning life on its head for her husband, Farron, twin girls Eden and Emma, 3, son Robert, 11 months, and extended family.
Clark first felt a lump in her breast in April last year, having stopped breastfeeding her son.
‘‘I never thought in a million years it could possibly be cancer. To me, breast cancer was an older person’s cancer. I thought, ‘I’ve just had a baby – how can I have breast cancer?’ That’s why I think I left it and shrugged it off as blocked milk ducts.’’
In November, her husband noticed the lump and was concerned as it was larger in size. Clarke decided to go to the doctor to get it checked.
On December 19, she was diagnosed with Grade 2 ductal breast cancer.
Three days later, the Otorohanga woman had her first appointment with the oncologist and the following day her first round of chemotherapy began. The
Chanel Clarke plan was simple; get in, hit it hard, have surgery, hit it again and recover.
After a routine fully body MRI on December 30, she was told the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and that there also appeared to be concerning shadings in her spine and liver.
‘‘At the start all these emotions were running through me. I was sad, angry, I thought, ‘ how could this be happening?’ I was really annoyed at myself I didn’t go [to the doctor] sooner but I just didn’t think it could be cancer. It didn’t cross my mind.’’
When doctors gave Clarke a timeframe, she became determined to be positive and fight the cancer.
‘‘I am not going to let cancer beat me ... I am not going to lose my family or my children.’’
She had been ‘‘blown away’’ by the support from family, friends and strangers, she said.
Her younger sister, Alyssa Drake, who lives in Alexandra in Central Otago, had set up a givealittle fundraising page.
Drake said that she wanted to help her sister be free of the financial burden and stress the disease caused, and to allow ‘‘Nel’s’’ husband to be by her side through the really tough times ahead.
‘‘I want them to finally go on their honeymoon and to have the opportunity to go for long weekends as a family, to create lasting memories with their three young kids,’’ she said.
‘‘It still amazes me to this day how positive my sis is. Even when she has received news as bad as it gets, she still manages to find a way to push through,’’ Drake added.
‘‘I guess that is when something internal takes over and you focus on what’s most important to you. For Nel it’s her three incredible kids and husband she goes home to.’’ People can make donations to givealittle.co.nz/cause/loveyounel