Breast Cancer survivor - early detection
Domini's Story
It’s
a strange thing, searching carefully for something you really don’t
want to find. When you’re actually afraid of what you might
find, there’s a powerful temptation not to look at all.
I used to check my breasts every day, when I was putting on moisturiser
after a shower. If you’d asked, I’d have told you I
wanted to become so familiar with them that I’d be sure to
notice the smallest change – being breast aware is, of course,
a recommended strategy. In fact it meant I could almost convince
myself that I really was just putting on moisturiser – not
checking for breast lumps at all.
Despite the affected casualness, I still found one. But, when I
did, it was so different from the thing I’d been dreading
that, for a little while, I thought I might just be safe. For some
reason I’d always imagined I was feeling for a little, round,
pea-like lump. Instead, I found a long, narrow, rough-edged ridge
just under my right nipple. Surely breast cancer didn’t feel
like that?
For the rest of the day. I couldn’t keep my hand away. Despite
the odd looks I was attracting on the train, I just had to know
whether that ridge was still there. It was. And when it was still
there the following morning, I made an appointment to see my GP.
We had a bit of a joke as I was undressing. She’d examined
me herself just a couple of weeks earlier when I went for my routine
pap smear, so I was feeling a bit neurotic - a bit of a hypochondriac,
even. But I was bringing up four children on my own – the
oldest 16, the youngest nine – so we agreed I was allowed
to be.
Then I watched her face as she examined me, and suddenly being there
didn’t seem that funny any more.
My doctor had had breast cancer herself and was just about as careful
and thorough as it was possible to be. She just couldn’t believe
she’d missed a lump this size. But I knew she’d missed
it for exactly the same reason that I had. Until the previous day,
its shape and position meant it simply couldn’t be distinguished
from normal, irregular breast tissue.
Most lumps are not so difficult to find. But breast cancer isn’t
always as predictable as we’d like.
No single method of detection is 100% effective. Some women with
breast cancer will find they have a tiny abnormality when they go
for a routine mammogram. Some will find one by touch. Others will
notice a that one of her nipples looks a bit different, or that
there’s something not quite right about the skin on one of
her breasts.
Yet, when it comes to surviving breast cancer, early detection remains
our most powerful ally. That’s why it’s vital that every
woman knows all about everything she can do, all about everything
she might find, and how crucial it is to talk to her doctor about
any change she may discover.
Technically, my breast cancer was not detected early. That lumpy
ridge was 7cm long and 7 of the lymph nodes under my arm were already
affected. In my case I needed more agressive treatment than most
women. But, thanks to that treatment, I’m a breast cancer
survivor, perfectly healthy almost five years on.
If I hadn’t been aware of the change to my breast and if I
hadn’t reported that change, I’d almost certainly not
be alive today – and no message can be more important than
that.
Domini is the author of two books:
You can get through this - how to stay positive when you're coping with breast cancer
How to become a happy eater
