Karen backs ‘Care for Your Pair’ campaign

As October is breast cancer awareness month the Irish Cancer Society have launched their “care for your pair” campaign aimed at getting Ireland talking about breast health and the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. The impact of early detection is highlighted by Edenderry mother, Karen Hanley who accidentally discovered a lump and acted. This week, Karen shares her story of how discovering she had cancer changed her life, but discovering it early saved her life.

by Kate Pendred

Karen was 37 years old when she made the discovery last November. She was waiting outside the bathroom for her eldest son, five-year-old MJ, to finish when she noticed something unusual.

“He was taking absolutely forever to come out and while I waited I happened to run my hand down my chest and suddenly felt a lump. I was breastfeeding at the time so I thought perhaps it might be down to feeding. You couldn’t see the lump and I felt totally fine otherwise but something just didn’t feel right,” she recalled.

The following week Karen went to see her GP who told her it was most likely nothing to be concerned about, but she was referred to the Breast Care Unit in St James’s Hospital to have a triple assessment. Karen had a mammogram, ultrasound and a biopsy. On December 23, 2020, Karen was diagnosed with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. The cancer was at an early stage and had not spread to her lymph nodes.

“It was a total shock to learn I had cancer,” she said. Even as she was going through all the different rounds of tests, it never entered her head that it could be cancer. Due to the pandemic, she was at the appointment on my own and had to break the devastating news to her husband, James, over the phone.

“They let me use a room to make the call. I got diagnosed on December 23 and we told no one. I went through Christmas like a zombie, I felt like a shadow”.

Karen started four rounds of AC chemotherapy last January in Tullamore hospital, followed by four rounds of Taxol. She underwent a lumpectomy with sentinel node removal followed by radiation and now she undergoes oral chemotherapy for another six months.

“I remember being in the waiting room before my first day of chemotherapy and I just totally broke down and burst into tears. Everyone there was so kind, one gentleman in particular who came over and comforted me, but I was so anxious. Of all my treatments, I found the AC chemotherapy the hardest. At times, it could be quite an isolating experience, particularly during Covid.” she adds.

“It’s the fear of the unknown. The genetic test was the scariest part for me – who was going to be affected – my kids, my sister? Thankfully, it was negative – I don’t have any genetic trace”.

Last June, just after she had finished her chemotherapy and was facing into surgery, Karen took part in the 100km challenge for Breast Cancer Ireland and raised €1,642. “It gave me something to think of other than cancer and motivated me every day to get my steps in”, she said.

In January, she set up an Instagram page - @me_versus_stage1breastcancer - to help her through her chemotherapy and to take her mind off things.

Karen (nee Hurst) was born in Edenderry but lived in England between the ages of two and 15. She is now back in Edenderry where she lives with her husband, James and their two sons, MJ, and three-year-old Kaiden.

“My cancer experience has made me a more grateful person. I would consider myself very lucky to be diagnosed at such an early stage and that the treatment went ahead without delay despite Covid and the cyber-attack. It could have been so much worse if I hadn’t found the lump that day. In many ways, I’m thankful my son took forever to come out of the bathroom that day,” Karen laughs.

She admits that she did not check her breasts and that it was “very random, the way I found it and if I hadn’t accidentally found it that day I would not be sitting her today, I would not have known I had cancer and it could have been so much worse”. As she faces into her oral chemotherapy treatment Karen says she is “feeling good now” and can’t complain.

During October, Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Irish Cancer Society asks you to ‘care for your pair’ by being breast aware and checking your breasts regularly. They ask that you check in with two friends and encourage them to do the same!

Getting into the habit of looking at and feeling your breasts regularly and knowing what to look out for will give you the best chance of detecting cancer early, meaning treatment is more likely to be successful. Speak to your GP if you notice anything unusual, they advise.