Woman & Home Feel Good You – September 2019

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FIRST PERSON HEALTH

CHECK YOUR PAIR

‘It’s so important to check your

breasts on a regular basis, at

least once a month,’ says Eleanor.

‘Give your breasts a thorough

feel, including the nipple, look in

the mirror and get used to what’s

normal for you. If you see or feel

anything abnormal, visit your GP.’

I need a lumpectomy or a more drastic

mastectomy. There was just so much

for me to take in.

Calling my mum, who lives in

Kent, on the way home was

the hardest part. As she

cried down the phone, all

I wanted to do was see her,

hug her and cry together.

Laughter is the

best medicine

Everything moved quickly. The MRI

revealed I would need a mastectomy.

I was determined to be positive, but the

thought terrified me.

Even in the darkest times, there was

a chink of light that came in the form of

my husband and his wicked sense of

humour – joking I looked like Superman

during my MRI when I had to lie face

down, sticking a boob through each

hole and stretching my arms out in front

of me, or suggesting the superhero name

of ‘Blue Tit’ when I was injected with

radioactive dye to see if the cancer had

spread to my lymph nodes. I don’t think

I could have got through it without him.

The surgery

I had a mastectomy with an immediate

breast reconstruction. Although I knew

I’d have scars and it would take a long

time for my body to heal, at least I still

had the same silhouette – a cleavage.

Five days later I went home. I struggled

sleeping propped up and the three

wound drains I carried around in bags

were the bane of my life. I was exhausted,

but gradually I noticed an improvement.

Week by week my wounds were

healing, I was standing up a bit straighter

and finally the drains were removed.

The next step

As a result of some ‘dodgy’-looking

lymph nodes, seven weeks later I was

told I’d need chemotherapy. I was scared

how I was going to cope and devastated

about the idea of losing my hair.

I opted for a painful scalp-cooling

treatment to stop my hair on my head

falling out. I did lose my eyebrows and

eyelashes, but on the upside I didn’t

have to shave my legs for months!

My veins took a battering. With

my lymph nodes removed on

my right-hand side, I could

only have needles injected

on my left. Sometimes it

took nurses hours to insert

a line for the chemo and

I ended up with a life-

threatening blood clot.

Support from family and friends

who brought me flowers, magazines and

cakes and offered lifts to appointments

kept me going. And to make sure the

chemo or the 15 doses of radiotherapy

that followed didn’t consume my life, I

ensured I achieved something new each

day, whether it was learning a bit of Italian

with a phone app or embroidering one

of my hateful drain bags.

Mental recovery

By mid October my treatment had

finished, but the year had taken its toll.

At the end of radiotherapy, there was

no longer a ‘next step’. The enormity of

everything I’d been through was too

much, and I sank into a depression.

But thanks to anti-depressants

prescribed by my GP and counselling

sessions by Breast Cancer Haven, after

a couple of months I felt I was getting

better. Turning up at that Race for Life

start line confirmed how far I’d come,

and now I could give something back.

I know it sounds cliché, but I felt like a

cancer thriver, rather than just a survivor.

%Eleanor Clarke is supporting Cancer

Research UK’s work to beat cancer right

now. To find out more, visit cruk.org

Over

the last 40

years, Cancer

Research UK’s work

has helped double

breast cancer

survival.

Doing the Race for Life

with Hannah in July 2018

During recovery, with

her daughter Hannah

Husband Ian’s sense

of humour was a

huge help