October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month; an important month close to my heart - a time to thank my lucky stars that I beat cancer and I'm still here and strong 20 years on.
I'm supporting The Estée Lauder Companies' Breast Cancer Campaign and sharing my story from 20 years ago to celebrate the campaign reaching its 25th anniversary. 25 years ago, there was no pink ribbon. Women around the world were dying from breast cancer and there was very little discussion about it. Evelyn H. Lauder saw an urgent need to bring breast cancer to the forefront and shine a spotlight on this world health issue.
In 1997, when I was diagnosed, there much less information out there about breast cancer treatments; the newspapers often printed scaremongering stories and no one spoke about cancer. We didn't have blogs, support groups or social media to share inspiring and motivating messages. It was a lonelier experience. The only person I had ever known to have cancer was my mother-in-law and she sadly passed away so, understandably, it was a very scary experience to receive my diagnosis.
I was first diagnosed with Grade 5 breast cancer. I was 36 at the time I found a lump and I didn't think it was serious as only two months prior I had visited a women's clinic and had my breasts checked - nothing was detected.
When I told my family that I had found a lump, they immediately reassured me and said it was nothing to worry about. However, I decided to go to the doctor's anyways, and at first, they thought the lump was just hormonal. But when it had not gone after a month, I was quickly referred to the hospital.
When the test results came back, it was a nurse who shared the diagnosis with me. She explained that I had cancer and it was an aggressive tumour that was quickly spreading. As you can imagine, I was in shock - the room stopped moving, the nurse was talking but I couldn't hear what she was saying. I was consumed with the thoughts that rushed so fast through my head. Luckily, my husband was there with me to listen as I couldn't take any more in. My main worry was my two boys, as any mother knows your kids are the most important and all I was worried about was how this would impact them.
I underwent treatment for a gruelling 8-months. My treatment included a lumpectomy, followed by chemotherapy and then radiotherapy. I started to lose my hair and I remember the boys pulling it out; they found this amusing, so I didn't mind, but it went very patchy so my husband shaved it all off for me. My youngest cried when he saw my bald head, this made it feel so much more real all of a sudden.
I remember my eldest son, who was 10-years-old at the time, asking: "Mum, are you going to die?" I turned to him and said strongly: "Not if I have anything to do with it. I'm not going anywhere." I was determined to fight cancer for my family; they were my driving force.
20 years ago, my treatment and care was good but awareness was low. I didn't know anyone that had gone through what I was going through - the other mums on the school gate didn't know anyone that had been affected by breast cancer. I don't think it's because women didn't have it, it's that it wasn't talked about - it was very hush hush and it definitely made things harder.
Now, there's so much more support available, information about treatment available and new treatment and breakthroughs being made. The more we've spoken about breast cancer, the more open and supportive we've become. Now we are aware of breast cancer, but there's still more to do - we need to find a cure. With the right funding and continued support, hopefully scientists will end breast cancer in the future.
I've been healthy ever since, however I do worry about the cancer returning, particularly as my sister has since been diagnosed with the same cancer since.
To support the 25th Anniversary of The Estée Lauder Companies' Breast Cancer Campaign, visit bcacampaign.com, follow on social media @bcacampaign and use #PinkRibbon25.