{"id":5497,"date":"2020-10-27T18:29:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T17:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/?p=5497"},"modified":"2020-10-27T18:29:46","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T17:29:46","slug":"breast-cancer-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Me and My Breast Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every 45 minutes someone dies of breast cancer in the UK<\/span>. Stop and think about that for a moment – it\u2019s staggering. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and at SI Lichfield & District we\u2019ve been thinking hard about a disease that causes over 12,000 deaths a year of women (and men) we love\u2026and listening to survivors’ stories from our own club members…<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Who develops breast cancer?<\/b><\/h4>\n

\"Photo<\/a>80% of breast cancers are diagnosed in women over 50 BUT breast cancer is also a leading cause of death in women under 50 – younger women are <\/span>not<\/b> immune – annually <\/span>around 2,300 women in the UK are diagnosed aged 39 or under.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are around 55,000 cases each year diagnosed in women compared to around 370 in men, leading to the deaths of around <\/span>11,500<\/b> women <\/b>and <\/span>85 men <\/b>in the UK each year.<\/span><\/p>\n

UK Breast Cancer screening programmes were paused in March 2020 owing to Covid-19 and a recent BBC report<\/a> shows that almost 1m women have missed screening, and according to Breast Cancer Now that means that ca. 8,600 women are living with undetected breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Who survives breast cancer?<\/b><\/h4>\n

While the statistics are frightening, there are many positives to be thankful for. 85% of women treated for breast cancer survive for 5 years or more; and the survival rate has doubled over the last 40 years thanks to greater awareness, earlier detection, faster diagnosis, better treatment, and improved care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of us will know at least one woman whose life has been impacted by breast cancer, it\u2019s \u201cstatistically inevitable\u201d, but it\u2019s often difficult to appreciate what it\u2019s \u201creally like\u201d to receive a diagnosis and then manage the emotional and physical impacts that it has on someone\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

So no more to be said in general terms really. Let\u2019s \u201clisten\u201d to the experiences of two of our Club members, survivors both, in their own words\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Me and My Breast Cancer – Pam\u2019s Story<\/b><\/h4>\n

I was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer during the summer 2012, not a surprise to me as I was, by then, a worn-out carer for my husband. The operation I needed should have taken place during the only week\u2019s holiday that we had booked that year! I was able to change it and then proceeded down the well-worn path of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is wonderful that so much research has gone into Breast Cancer and I felt I was benefiting from this. The support I had from Burton Hospital Oncology and Breast Unit during this time was excellent. I also arranged for Carers to look after my husband once a day, it made so much difference to both our lives that they stayed even after my cancer had gone.\u00a0 I had a year off from my choirs so that I could make sure I had enough rest etc. I also kept a diary, something I had not done since I was 16!<\/span><\/p>\n

I had to rely on friends to take me to chemo sessions and they were wonderful and supportive, however, another friend took me to the Sutton Cancer Centre, which is aligned to the Bristol Cancer Centre. I felt that was a turning point in my life generally, I had counselling, changed my diet, eating far more vegetables than ever before (including juicing) and where possible buying Organic.\u00a0 My gut has never been so good. I learnt about parabens, relaxation, the need for exercise and had the opportunity to enjoy treatments, reflexology etc. All this took place in a lovely safe and friendly space.\u00a0 I just loved it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The downsides of my Cancer was that one of the chemo drugs used had left me with heart problems, which has meant I have had three stents fitted and now have to take drugs to help my heart, a bore – but there it is. I have survived and have learnt a great deal from it. A success story I feel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why NOT me? Delma\u2019s Story<\/b><\/h4>\n

\"Photo<\/a>One of the important things to remember is that everyone\u2019s experience of breast cancer is different, everyone\u2019s reaction to the diagnosis and response to the treatment is different, it is their cancer not mine nor anyone else\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since August 2013 I have divided my life into b.b.c. and a.b.c. namely before breast cancer and after breast cancer. In September 2017 it became a.b.c.2.<\/span><\/p>\n

August 2013 was not a good month, it started with a virus which resulted in much coughing; by mid August the coughing had abated but I was sure that I had pulled one of my intercostal muscles. No such luck; a trip to see the GP on the Monday resulted in an appointment at the Breast Unit in Burton Thursday of the same week with a confirmation of breast cancer the same day following a mammogram, an ultrasound scan and 3 biopsies. Talk about a whirlwind. My family and friends have always said that I don\u2019t do things by halves and this was no exception. <\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t realise that there were so many variations on the theme of breast cancer. The full diagnosis wasn\u2019t available until Tuesday the following week; five tumours of two differing types, lobular and ductal, oestrogen sensitive and fast growing; difficult but treatable apparently. So began 6 chemotherapy sessions at 3 weekly intervals, 18 injections of Herceptin because my cancer cells loved me so much they wanted to reproduce themselves at breakneck speed and 18 radiotherapy sessions all interspersed with ECG s every 3 months. Oh, and I almost forgot, a mastectomy and five years of hormonal treatment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However I get ahead of myself. The day I received the full picture my husband and I were going on holiday and it was brilliant. Would I have enjoyed it as much if the sword of Damocles had not been hanging above my head? Who knows? however it provided a much needed break before we had to tell people and before treatment began.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I found that telling people was hard; I could have kept it to myself but chose not to because being gregarious any change in my behaviour or outlook because of treatment would have been commented upon. On telling a particular friend of long standing and a breast cancer survivor her response was \u201cYou don\u2019t feel sorry for yourself do you?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d I replied. \u201cGood. Have you said why me?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d I replied again. \u201cGood because the answer is <\/span>why not me<\/i><\/b>?.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

There were ups and downs during treatment and I had some awful days. I tried to make sense of it all by keeping a diary in which I recorded my feelings, noted the after effects of each chemotherapy session and because I was losing weight used it to monitor my food. As an aid to weight loss I can\u2019t say that I recommend chemotherapy but I emerged lighter than when I married!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I availed myself of all the support that was on offer; massage, homeopathy; I used meditation and relaxation, not forgetting gentle yoga and the walks that my husband encouraged me to take. In many ways life continued as normal but the pace was dictated by my treatment. The medical staff were amazing, nothing was too much trouble and the MacMillan nurses were always on hand with practical advice or just to listen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The chemotherapy sessions became more difficult towards the end and with one drug in particular. However I made it and I found that I had emotional, physical and mental reserves that I never thought possible, I discovered a great deal about myself: some things I liked and others I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I also discovered that I look good without hair. I value my friends and family more. I came to realise how much strength I draw from my husband which has made us closer. For me the end of treatment for \u201cbreast cancer 1\u201d was the beginning of another journey, admittedly interrupted by \u201cbreast cancer 2\u201d but still ongoing…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>Despite CV-19 we held a mini online fund raiser on 23rd October for Wear It Pink. If you’d like to donate or find out more about what we do, then please contact us<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every 45 minutes someone dies of breast cancer in the UK. Stop and think about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":735,"featured_media":5514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[94,96,97,16,95],"class_list":["post-5497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-breast-cancer","tag-breast-cancer-awareness-month","tag-breast-cancer-now","tag-covid-19","tag-my-story"],"yoast_head":"\nMe and My Breast Cancer | News | Blog | Events | SI Lichfield and District<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SI Lichfield and District : Blog: Me and My Breast Cancer : Personal stories from our survivors at SI Lichfield and District . Read them here...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Me and My Breast Cancer | News | Blog | Events | SI Lichfield and District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SI Lichfield and District : Blog: Me and My Breast Cancer : Personal stories from our survivors at SI Lichfield and District . Read them here...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SI Lichfield and District\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-27T17:29:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nicholab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nicholab\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/\",\"name\":\"Me and My Breast Cancer | News | Blog | Events | SI Lichfield and District\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-27T17:29:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#\/schema\/person\/0ea9e741502a7890b91fc20d0c99c1c4\"},\"description\":\"SI Lichfield and District : Blog: Me and My Breast Cancer : Personal stories from our survivors at SI Lichfield and District . Read them here...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Photo of Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Me and My Breast Cancer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/\",\"name\":\"SI Lichfield and District\",\"description\":\"A Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Club website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#\/schema\/person\/0ea9e741502a7890b91fc20d0c99c1c4\",\"name\":\"nicholab\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5a316b23a6e4c1ec401a21a8ea63af15a6da8b7d8eedbd6b71af9f162de9b25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5a316b23a6e4c1ec401a21a8ea63af15a6da8b7d8eedbd6b71af9f162de9b25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nicholab\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/author\/nicholab\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Me and My Breast Cancer | News | Blog | Events | SI Lichfield and District","description":"SI Lichfield and District : Blog: Me and My Breast Cancer : Personal stories from our survivors at SI Lichfield and District . Read them here...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Me and My Breast Cancer | News | Blog | Events | SI Lichfield and District","og_description":"SI Lichfield and District : Blog: Me and My Breast Cancer : Personal stories from our survivors at SI Lichfield and District . Read them here...","og_url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/","og_site_name":"SI Lichfield and District","article_published_time":"2020-10-27T17:29:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"nicholab","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nicholab","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/","name":"Me and My Breast Cancer | News | Blog | Events | SI Lichfield and District","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-27T17:29:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#\/schema\/person\/0ea9e741502a7890b91fc20d0c99c1c4"},"description":"SI Lichfield and District : Blog: Me and My Breast Cancer : Personal stories from our survivors at SI Lichfield and District . Read them here...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/files\/2020\/10\/pink-ribbon-3713686_1920-1.jpg","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"Photo of Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/2020\/10\/27\/breast-cancer-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Me and My Breast Cancer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/","name":"SI Lichfield and District","description":"A Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Club website","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#\/schema\/person\/0ea9e741502a7890b91fc20d0c99c1c4","name":"nicholab","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5a316b23a6e4c1ec401a21a8ea63af15a6da8b7d8eedbd6b71af9f162de9b25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5a316b23a6e4c1ec401a21a8ea63af15a6da8b7d8eedbd6b71af9f162de9b25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nicholab"},"url":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/author\/nicholab\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5497"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5513,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5497\/revisions\/5513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/lichfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}