Be breast aware – our managing ed shares her story

This much I know. 

Our managing editor, Charlotte, was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago. On this anniversary, she outlines her experience and emphasises the importance of an early diagnosis  

I wasn’t going to use this forum to share my story but then I met the kindest radiographer. 

He had given up his career as an engineer to retrain following his wife’s treatment 18 years ago. He asked me what I did, so I told him about NappyValleyNet. First, he said we now had a new follower, and then he asked if I would be using the forum to spread the word about modern day breast cancer treatment. To tell our readers that it’s amazing. That what they can do nowadays is incredible, resulting in thousands of positive outcomes for women who are given the same diagnosis I received. 

To be clear, from day one I was told by all the brilliant people at Guy’s that my type of breast cancer was “a good one to have if you’re going to have cancer”. I fully appreciate that this is not the case for every diagnosis; I was 49 and I have seen friends go through gruelling treatments, and I have lost friends and family to cancer and I’m sure many readers will share this experience. 

My radiographer wanted me to share three key messages with other women: 

Be breast aware.  

Check yourself monthly – I found my own tiny lump when in the shower and immediately contacted my GP who referred me on the NHS’s two-week breast cancer pathway. 

The earlier the better. 

By checking regularly you may find something – which very often will be nothing – and it’s always better to know so you can act fast. Don’t delay.  

It isn’t necessarily as frightening as you think. 

My radiographer told me, “A cancer diagnosis isn’t what it used to be. It’s very common and a great deal of the time it’s entirely treatable. One in two of us will get cancer.”  

Soon after I was diagnosed, an old friend told me about an oncologist she had heard talking on the radio, who said he wished there was more than the one word for delivering a cancer diagnosis to patients, depending on its stage and prognosis. Cancer. It’s a frightening word. And it’s a shock. But the sooner you’re in the medics’ capable hands, the better. And having been through this, I can say there is a huge comfort in being in those medics’ hands.  

In the world of breast cancer there are multiple types, just as there are various stages and treatment pathways. Many of them are entirely treatable. We are fortunate enough to live in a world that has invested hugely in breast cancer research and so treatments have come on massively in recent years and will continue to do so. So whilst it can be frightening to receive a breast cancer diagnosis, know that brilliant help, support and treatment is available.  

On the day my surgeon removed my dressings from my lumpectomy and lymph node biopsy, he said that in a few months’ time I would put this behind me as something that happened to me when I was 49. For many, that will be easier said than done. I’m very conscious that I will forever live under the spectre of having had cancer (will it return?), but I feel very reassured by the world class treatment I have received and will continue to receive as I am monitored over the next five years. 

I am lucky that positive is my default mode and that has been my focus since I was told I had breast cancer. After my first treatment, the radiographer added that to his list of things he wanted me to share. “You can be positive about it, or you can be negative. It might not change the outcome, but it will make a world of difference to how you feel.”  

One last thing. 

As we said goodbye the radiographer told me that over the years, 50,000 women had put themselves forward for trials which have resulted in the incredible state-of-the-art radiotherapy treatment of today. This means we undergo far less gruelling treatment over far fewer days with only minimal side effects.  

What women – thank you. Brilliant, as ever.  

The team at Guy’s & St Thomas’s directed me to Breast Cancer Now for further reading and support. I found it to be both informative and reassuring. 

breastcancernow.org

I also found The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer; How to Feel Empowered and Take Control by two doctors and breast cancer survivors, Professor Trisha Greenhalgh and Dr Liz O’Riordan to be extremely clear, helpful and relatable.