Naoise Coogan is a mother-of-two and freelance journalist and PR and digital marketing executive living in Co Kilkenny.

She and her husband John were astonished to learn, following a breast check at Waterford University Hospital – a centre of excellence in breast care – that Naoise had breast cancer.

In this series, Naoise writes about her journey from the day she discovered a lump to starting radiotherapy.

Breast cancer is treated in a standardised manner, under very particular guidelines in Ireland, and these guidelines are followed by all of the centres of excellence around the country.

If caught in time, breast cancer is considered very treatable, and women of all ages are encouraged to check their breasts for lumps on a regular basis, getting anything unusual examined by a GP. Early diagnosis is vital to saving lives.

My journey – Part Five

It’s been several weeks since my operation, and now I am ready for the next phase of the treatment plan: radiotherapy.

I have been mapped and painted with permanent ink and I am all set for the intensive seven-week therapy, which will see me driving from Kilkenny to Waterford from Monday to Friday every day.

I could take a bus, which is run by an amazing group of volunteers and funded by charitable donations. It leaves at a certain time every day and takes everyone from the Kilkenny region for their treatment.

However, I prefer to drive, as this offers me more freedom to choose my treatment times. And importantly, it allows me to be home in time to collect the kids from school/crèche most days. They don’t even know I am having treatment, and that’s the way I want to keep it.

the first week

The first week is a little unreal. I walk in through the doors that say “Whitfield Radiotherapy” and I still can hardly believe that this has happened to me.

But as I look around the waiting room and see all the other cancer survivors – some of them a lot worse off than I am – I realise I am lucky, for so many different reasons. Most of all, because I found a lump early.

I had a good prognosis and further good news was delivered by my oncologist that the Oncotype DX test results indicated that I did not need chemotherapy. This was truly wonderful news.

I learn that, for some, radiotherapy is only the first part of their recovery, used as a treatment to shrink the tumour prior to an operation. Then chemotherapy is likely and recovery begins in earnest after that.

I realise again that I am lucky that this is the final part of my journey.

The waiting area is generally full of the same people every day. I learn that there is great camaraderie on the buses and that many people make good friendships during this difficult period in their lives.

We are all coming here for one reason: because we all have or have had cancer. It’s a basic common denominator – but unless you are accompanying somebody else – there is no other reason to be here.

the treatment

The treatment itself is quite quick. We are all scheduled for various times, which are adhered to pretty well, once the machines are working as they should be.

There are two “linear accepters” in Whitfield – one a little more complex than the other, and between the two machines, they treat approximately 70 people every week day.

Of course, with this kind of demand comes problems and breakdowns. During my treatment, there are various difficulties with the machines, but luckily I am scheduled for the less complex machine, which doesn’t encounter as many mishaps as the first machine, and so I have not yet missed a day due to engineering difficulties.

If you miss a treatment it is added to the end of your treatment and so it just goes on for longer. My plan is to get this over as quickly as possible.

I also think that to become a radiotherapist, you must pass the most intense personality test ever! Because I have never encountered so many lovely people in one place in all my life.

They are ever-smiling, always enquiring about how I feel today and utterly professional and informative throughout. They treat so many people every day and they still manage to smile, whether you are the first or last patient on their list. Their concern has made my treatment much more bearable, as they are a joy to meet on a daily basis.

side effects

The treatment itself is not too difficult. I am experiencing the burning that I was warned about around my breast and chest and under my arm. It can also be itchy.

I see a nurse once a week who advises me on how to deal with this: suffer it, unless it becomes too much to bear and then use some cortisone cream. Really, there is little you can put on the area while having radiotherapy.

I am fair-skinned and therefore I am burning, but it is nothing I can’t deal with, and it is a lot more manageable than the effects of chemotherapy.

The travel up and down every day is proving to be something I have just got used to. It is part of my day, now. Sometimes, I am up and home again by nine o’clock in the morning.

If I have an early appointment, I sometimes hardly remember I’ve been there by that afternoon. Sometimes, I feel a little tired, but generally it’s okay.

I won’t be sorry when this is over, that’s for sure, but it has been an eye opener. I have met a myriad of people who are worse off and better off than me, and I appreciate how fortunate I am to have been able to deal with my illness in a manner in which it hasn’t upset my family or work life to a huge extent.

a new perspective

But my outlook on life has changed in many ways. I have to be extra vigilant for the rest of my life. I will be looking for lumps and bumps for the rest of my days – it just comes with the territory.

I have to live with the fact that this also might reoccur, although I am on Tamoxifen for 10 years, which is said to dramatically lower the risk.

My whole family has endured a massive shock, but the bottom line is, I am a cancer survivor and – although cancer is a terrifying word – it does not need to signal the end. I am living proof of that. But vigilance is required, and we all have some responsibility for our own health.

stay aware, stay alive

Ladies, check your breasts and everywhere else for unusual occurrences and, if in doubt – check it out. You will never regret a check-up – you just might regret not being checked out.

I have written this series of articles to create awareness around the need to be more conscious of our health. I wasn’t ever too worried, but luckily I didn’t leave a lump without having it checked.

If this series spurs even one person into action, it has been worthwhile, as a delay in diagnosis can have a detrimental result.

I am ever grateful to the people who have been part of my treatment and my recovery to date. And I am so grateful to family and friends for their amazing support.

I hope that this series will help others get through their diagnosis and realise that there is life after cancer.