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Young women Talking The Young Women Talking booklet and DVD features the personal stories of four inspiring women Joanne, Mary M, Rita, and Mary N who were all diagnosed with breast cancer in their early 30s. Each year approximately 7% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Victoria are under 40 years of age. Studies show young women face complex issues relating to diagnosis, treatment and living with breast cancer because of their age. The women featured on the DVD reflect on their own experiences and provide insight into how they have learnt to live with breast cancer. Here are their stories...
Joanne's storyI was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, aged 32. Everything was in slow motion when the surgeon told me. I sat there with my husband in a state of shock. I would need surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I was numb. As we left his room he handed me the name of a fertility specialist. A fertility specialist? What? It was too much to take in. My mind had shut down to protect me. I had been married for only 14 months and we planned to try and start a family. We had to make decisions, quickly. Fertility. It was strange to talk about fertility when I was facing my own mortality. My husband and I decided to freeze embryos before my chemotherapy, and to have IVF. I had chemo and radiotherapy. Friends and family who were pregnant or had babies were always tired. My fatigue was from the side effects of treatment. I began to feel teary around babies and pregnant women in the street. When my friends had christenings and children’s birthdays, I was genuinely happy for them, yet I felt emptiness, isolation. How could they really understand? How could I express my mixed feelings? I needed to come to a place of acceptance. It is now a year since I was diagnosed. I have my down days and that’s part of it. I go to BreaCan and to support groups. I speak to other young women with breast cancer. After treatment, I went on holiday to the beach. At sunset, looking out at the ocean, I shredded the cards from my radiotherapy appointments, one by one, and threw them in the sea. I cried then. For the last year, I have been climbing a mountain! It has been an adventure. I feel more alive. Some days the clouds hang over my mountain. Other days I can see and feel the sunshine.
Mary M's story My breast cancer story begins in 1998 just before Christmas. I had found a peculiar swelling under my left armpit. I knew that I needed to have it checked out. Three years before, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and I was very aware of any changes to my body. My GP examined me and concluded that I had an ingrown hair! I got a second opinion. By the time I had a mammogram and ultrasound, there was a small lump just above my nipple. Without the ultra sound it would have been difficult to diagnose my 33 year-old breast. As a young woman you don’t expect to develop breast cancer. And I’d already paid my cancer dues. Besides, there were only a few weeks to do Christmas shopping! My house was being renovated too. My husband, my son and I were living out of a suitcase at different relatives, spread around town. We needed extra room. I wanted more children, not more cancer. The day I was diagnosed my husband, Paul, was with me. We wanted to grieve over this news together yet we had nowhere to go. Our house was gutted like our hearts. The two of us sat in our tiny car and comforted each other. In the New Year I went in for a lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed. The good news - the lymph nodes were clear. The bad news, I had three large tumours, not just one, and two were the aggressive type. I had a mastectomy, then chemotherapy. Hairless and boobless. One good thing was that our builders, who had been so slow, finally finished the job. The house was ready the weekend before chemo began. We were a family again. A couple of years after diagnosis, I decided to have reconstructive surgery. Now I have a nice pair of very young perky breasts. I might be 38 but my breasts are only four years old. I sit on a number of committees representing other women. My passion, however, lies in the needs of young women. In many ways our needs are unique. Breast cancer has a big impact on our lives. I have been very active in breast cancer awareness and advocacy for young women. Recently I travelled to Sri Lanka with other breast cancer survivors and helped build houses. We were helping a poor community living in a shanty town next to the city tip.
 Rita's story I was 33. I had just moved in with my partner and I found out that I had breast cancer. I couldn’t believe it - I was too young for breast cancer, and certainly not ready to die. Telling my partner, family and friends, was hard - trying to show strength and optimism you don’t feel. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted children. Even if I wasn’t going to, I wasn’t ready for menopausal symptoms from chemo, making me old, before my time. And I was still establishing a relationship with my partner. I felt as if I was forced to make decisions I wasn’t ready for. I had the chemo and radiotherapy. I worked right through my treatment, wanting my life to continue as normal and not wanting to affect my career. I discovered a support group for young women with breast cancer. It was great to be able to share my story and fears. They could understand, in a way my family and friends couldn’t, despite their love and concern. Breast cancer has certainly changed my life. I‘m afraid of a recurrence, but I focus on the future and try to live and love life. I feel stronger and more self-assured than I ever have. I’m single now too. Sometimes I wonder, how would I introduce these issues into a new relationship?
Mary N's story I was only 32 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was married with four children, aged four, six, seven and nine. So I was flat out with kinder drop offs, school activities, raising a young family. But life was fun, carefree and innocent. My diagnosis was a shock. When I went to my doctors with a lump, they kept saying, ‘Don’t worry, you’re too young to have breast cancer.’ I had a grade three tumour, an aggressive breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy, then chemo and radiotherapy. Two years later I had a prophylactic (preventative) bi-lateral mastectomy and a full hysterectomy. I didn’t want a recurrence. My biggest fear was that my children would grow up without a mother. And that I would miss out on so much of their lives, and of mine. I have been volunteering for the last three years at BreaCan, which is a breast cancer information and support centre in Victoria. Breast cancer made me stop and think about life. I am now four years on since diagnosis, and I enjoy my precious life as I always have.
To order a free copy of Young Women Talking, please call BreaCan on 1300 781 500 (cost of a local call for country callers) or email. Go to BreaCan home page Go to BreaCan Resources page Go to BreaCan News and Events page Go to Breast cancer introductory page
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