Welsh Water Careers

"I had planned to write a blog to raise awareness for Breast Cancer month in October and with the recent, sad death of Sarah Harding I am sharing this sooner."

Alix Olarein, Promotions Advisor

In 2014, when I was 24, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. No-one in my family has it, so it came as even more of a shock to all of us.

I was working for a local cancer charity at the time, so I had knowledge of signs and symptoms but never dreamt it would happen to me.

I can’t really explain my symptoms to you, apart from feeling very run down and drained for a few weeks.

Whilst feeling a bit run down, I was watching a documentary about Kris Hallenga a young lady who has terminal breast cancer and runs the charity Coppafeel.

A few days later I had pain in my breast and when I checked.... to my surprise I found a lump.

Because I had watched Kris’s story, I decided to contact the Doctor.  Although she dismissed it and advised me 'it’ll be fine as you’re too young', she put me on the waiting list for a scan.

I completely forgot about the scan and continued to work, go to the gym and go out with friends as normal.  

6 weeks later I had what I thought, was a routine scan and they told me there and then that it was cancerous, that I would have my breast removed and have chemotherapy and this was the minimum treatment that I would need. It didn’t even sink in; it just didn’t feel real.  

After that day, everything was a whirlwind, and I went through lots of treatment including having my eggs harvested. I remember my last round of chemotherapy and planning a trip to Essex with my friends, 3 weeks later to celebrate!

As I started to recover, I began to volunteer for Coppafeel, I raised awareness with the local press, took part in the Breast Cancer Care charity catwalk, did the muddy run, fundraised and really did as much as I could to encourage everyone (but young people particularly) to be aware that this can really happen to anyone.

I wanted to have the same impact on someone’s life as Kris from Coppafeel had on mine, as she really did save my life by finding my cancer early enough to treat. In the catwalk I also met 2 amazing men who were living with breast cancer, so it really is a reminder that everyone should be checking their chests regularly.

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So for more information on breast cancer, how to check yourself, set up reminders and understanding changes check out Coppafeel.

It's not just Women....

Men can also get breast cancer.  You can read more here.