A DONEGAL woman who survived breast cancer has encouraged others to look after themselves and get checked out.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and according to the Irish Cancer Society, around 4,000 women and approximately 30 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in Ireland.
Gaoth Dobhair native Síle Nic Suibhne was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015.
Now living in Drumcliffe, Sligo, Síle works as a Special Needs Assistant in a local primary school.
She went for her first mammogram after her sister Kathleen was also diagnosed with breast cancer.
Síle is now 11 years cancer-free and has told the Donegal News how early detection helped her immensely.
“My journey started in 2015. The year before, I had a sister with breast cancer and she took part in some kind of study, and as a result of that, her female siblings could avail of the mammogram service early.
“And so I did that, everything was fine. It was maybe a bit over a year afterwards then that I was called for my first mammogram over 50, and sure really I went into that blind because I thought, ‘Well, sure, I was fine a year ago, I’m going to be fine again,’. But that wasn’t the case.”
Síle Nic Suibhne at this year’s Relay for Life.
Síle was told she was moving between stage one and stage two of breast cancer.
She was also informed that she had what is known as lobular breast cancer, which can be harder to detect.
“It’s harder to detect cancer if you have dense breasts,” explained Síle. “And while I was never told that I had dense breasts, it was that type of cancer that I had.
“I was very, very lucky actually to be diagnosed so early on, because I was moving between a stage one and a stage two, where quite often you’re looking at a stage three or four by the time the lobular is often found.”
Síle recalled how she was fit and healthy at the time of her diagnosis, and hadn’t experienced any physical symptoms.
“I was running, I was doing a lot. I was really, really fit. I had no symptoms, because with the type of cancer that I had, often you wouldn’t have symptoms. You’ll hear of people having blisters or bleeding, or they’ll have signs of breast cancer. In my case, there were no signs.”
Early detection meant that Síle didn’t need to avail of chemotherapy or a have mastectomy.
“In my case, it was a matter of having a biopsy. I didn’t have to have a mastectomy, just had a section removed, and I didn’t need chemotherapy either. I got away with just radiotherapy, so I was blessed in many ways.”
Síle’s treatment plan began soon after her diagnosis and she said everything happened “fairly fast”.
After receiving the results of her biopsy, she was then scheduled for surgery near Easter.
She had to wait for six weeks before commencing radiotherapy and also went for an Onctotype DX test, which would determine whether or not she would benefit from chemotherapy.
“That goes to America and that takes a few weeks for them to come back, and with that test, you are rated from 1 to 30,” Síle explained.
“So if you’re under 15, they would consider that really you would not benefit from having chemo. So I fell under that category, thankfully.
“By June, I was up and down to Galway daily to have my radiotherapy. I would have used the services here of SHOUT, they provide a bus and I would have gone down daily. I used to maybe stay down a night in Galway in the middle of the week to break up the whole week.
“It was all over and done by the time we were getting our summer holidays.”
Throughout her treatment, Síle was determined that she was going to get to the Camino de Santiago in Spain, as planned for her 50th birthday in July of that year.
Sure enough, two weeks after completing her radiotherapy treatment, she did just that.
“I succeeded at that, which was great,” said Síle. “I think spiritually that really helped as well.
“It helped me to deal with my cancer, because I had a lot of time on my hands walking on my own, and I had a lot of time to come to terms with the fact that I had cancer and that I was at the other end of it.”
Síle now helps the Irish Cancer Society by getting the message out there to avail of checks.
“My emphasis would be on availing of the BreastCheck, for everyone eligible to go for it” said Síle.
“I know it’s not pleasant but it only takes a few minutes and it’s just a weight off your mind every two years that there’s nothing there.
“The breast examination obviously is very, very important as well, regardless of your age. But in my case, the type of cancer that I have, and that I think actually half of women would have dense breasts, they wouldn’t feel a lump.
“It’s internal, it would be a calcification, it’s not something that you would feel through feeling your breast. So that’s where the mammograms are very important.”
Síle is well settled in Sligo with her dog, Finn, and has a positive outlook on life. She goes to the gym most mornings, is a member of the Donegal Dragons boat team, and sings in a cancer support choir in Sligo.
She has family in Gaoth Dobhair and goes home to visit when she can.
“Sligo’s my home now, but I do like to go back and be able to have the chat as Gaeilge and all that,” she said.
She’s aware that she’s very lucky to have received her cancer diagnosis early.
“The main thing is to listen to your body, and if you feel that there is something amiss or not right, go and seek help,” said Síle. “There’s an awful lot of help out there.
“Don’t hesitate thinking it’s going to get better next week or the week after. Even if you’re wrong go find out, be told that you’re wrong, and then be satisfied that you’re fine.”
A spokesperson for the Irish Cancer Society said: “Breast pain alone is not usually a symptom of breast cancer. Nine out of ten breast changes won’t turn out to be breast cancer, but it is important to go to your GP if you have any symptoms and get them checked out.”
If you have any questions about breast cancer, contact the Irish Cancer Society’s Support Line at 1800 200 700 or email [email protected].
You can also visit www.breastcancerireland.com.