22MOON.COM
You can see the whole Earth from the Moon!

.

.

.

 

Breast Cancer:

This May Save

Your Life

October 7th, 2009

The Belefast Telegraph

BELEFASTTELEGRAPH.CO.UK

 

 

Discovering a lump in her breast is every woman’s nightmare, yet the earlier you find you have breast cancer, the better your chance of survival.

Women are being encouraged to become familiar with the changes we need to look out for during regular self-examinations of our breasts.

Every year in Ireland there are almost 2,500 women diagnosed with breast cancer, and an Irish woman has a one in 13 chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime.

.

.

______

.

While approximately 80pc of breast cancers occur in women over 50 years, young women are also at risk.

“A woman knows her body better than any one, and self-examination of her breasts is her best defence against breast cancer,” says 34-year-old breast-cancer survivor Sandy O’Sullivan.

“The doctor told me he couldn’t feel the lump I was talking about, even when I had his finger on it.

But I knew what was usual for me, and what was unusual, and I knew the lump was there,” says Sandy, who is mum to Alex (9) and Lee (8).

“It was after watching a piece on breast cancer on The Afternoon Show that I did a thorough examination, but even when I found the lump I was hopeful, as I had only just turned 31 and I was trying to convince myself that only older women got breast cancer,” she says.

Sandy has spent the last four years fighting breast cancer, and her treatment has included a lumpectomy, two courses of chemotherapy, hormonal treatment, two mastectomies, and two courses of radiotherapy.

She is now recuperating in her Skerries home following reconstructive breast surgery to give her back her feminine shape, and is in remission from cancer.

“I did some modelling when I was younger, and I’m a part-time actress who has appeared in Fair City, so I was used to a certain level of attention from men,” says Sandy.

.

.

.

“My confidence totally went when I had cancer.

I was a shadow of my former self and losing my hair was horrendous ” she says.

She has also had to deal with the terrible financial pressure cancer can visit on a sufferer.

“I am divorced and pay the bills.

And as I couldn’t do my job as a speech and drama teacher when I was recovering from surgery and having chemo, I had a hard time coping financially.

The St Vincent de Paul Society came to my rescue when I needed beds for the boys.

It comes down to that when you are dealing with bad health and a bad financial situation,” she recalls.

Amazingly her resilience is still strong, although she says she had a very difficult time after her second breast-cancer diagnosis.

“I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone, but what it has given me is clarity and balance after a time during which I had totally lost my focus,” Sandy says.

“A year after my original diagnosis I went back for my mammogram and I was diagnosed with cancer in my other breast.”

.

.

.

“It was a low point for me.

“I couldn’t stop crying.

I had problems stringing a whole sentence together as I was so dazed and wounded by the experience.

I had absolutely no idea how I was going to cope.

“I did try a cancer support group but found it wasn’t for me.

Constantly talking about it didn’t help me.

The practicalities of looking after my boys, and the fact that I am divorced and that if I lost my battle with cancer the boys would be alone, is what drove me on,” she says.

“I think my faith got me through in the end.

I prayed a lot for help with the pain, and I tried meditation.

I now do yoga to get my body back in shape and to build up strength.

“I am optimistic about the future but I know I am still in the healing stage, as cancer has taken a lot out of me physically and emotionally.

I plan to do a degree in theatre studies at Trinity, and I am writing a play about a young woman who survives cancer.

“It’s a case of being aware of what your breasts are like.

This may save your life if you are diagnosed with cancer.

“The sooner a young woman spots breast cancer, the better her chances, because cancer moves quickly and aggressively in young women,” Sandy says.

.

.

.

.