I can learn to live with my cancer
CHRISTINE O’Connell was nearing five years in remission for breast cancer when she suffered a seizure while cycling in London last February.
The 6-year-old was taken to hospital and given the devastating news that her cancer had returned in the form of a brain tumour.
Miss O’Connell had endured months of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy after her initial diagnosis in 2012, but some of the cancer cells resisted the treatment and survived in her body.
But instead of seeing the return of her cancer as a ‘death sentence’, Miss O’Connell regards it as a ‘manageable condition’.
She is benefiting from the new approach to cancer treatment and was prescribed palbociclib – which she takes in pill form every day – after brain surgery to remove the tumour. The drug is one of the first of a new generation to be rolled out as part of the new approach.
The business consultant, from south-west London, said: ‘Before the main option would have been chemo, but now all I have to do is take one pill every day, which is a much milder treatment.
‘I see cancer as something I have to manage and learn to live with, rather than a terrifying diagnosis.
‘It means instead of seeing secondary cancer as a death sentence, it is more of a chronic condition. There has been no sign of the tumour for over a year now.
‘It gives me hope that my cancer may be kept in check long enough for the next advances in treatment for secondary breast cancer.’