News
Former cancer patients take to the catwalk
There’s a scene in iconic series Sex in the City where wild woman Samantha throws her wig in the air in frustration at her hot flushes as she drips sweat while talking at a posh cancer research benefit dinner.
A group of women who will know all too well how Samantha felt are showing a similar kind of bravery as they take to the catwalk for their modelling debut in Galway to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Dubbed the Pink Ladies, the six women all have their own unique breast cancer story. Their decision to strut their stuff before a room full of people must surely be a daunting one.
But as one of them – Sinéad Melia – is quick to point out, after getting through cancer, this is akin to a walk in the park.
Although Sinéad had never had any family history of cancer, when she lifted her arm to get dressed one morning and found a tiny lump she was struck with sheer panic. After visiting her GP, the 29-year-old from Cloonboo was sent to see a consultant who ordered an ultrasound, mammogram, x-ray and biopsy
“July 9, 1914 is a day I’ll never forget. I was told it’s not good news. I couldn’t remember what else they said. All I heard was breast cancer.”
The next few weeks were a blur of scans and tests to see where else it had spread. Hers was fuelled by hormones and within three weeks her treatment plan was set.
“It was the Wednesday of Race Week. Instead of being in Spain on a planned holiday I was in getting chemo.”
The first four rounds of chemotherapy were particularly punishing as she was hit with nausea and pain. The last four got easier. This was followed by 28 sessions of radiotherapy, five days a week, and then surgery to remove the lymph nodes and a mastectomy and a reconstruction.
“The surgery was the thing I was most apprehensive about. I’d never stayed in hospital before in my life. But it was good to get it done and feel it physically removed. Then you feel your mind is actually catching up with the body.”
She found it helpful to set little goals while taking things day by day. While she had good and bad days, she has learned a lot about herself throughout the process; she has made new friends and has had new opportunities that she would otherwise not have had.
“I was a worrier about every little thing. Whereas now I remind myself: you got cancer and survived. It changes your outlook. It makes you appreciate the real things.”
Sinéad worked in a call centre before her illness but now hopes to pursue a career in fashion and beauty. Fatigue is still a major problem for her. If she was to give advice to others who hear the ‘C’ word, it would be to stay as positive as they possibly can.
“Don’t google too much – it always highlights the worst outcome on things no matter what you search. I thought I would be constantly worrying about it coming back but no. The treatment I got was so good – the advances in the last 15 years alone mean the treatment is tailored to you.”
Tuam native Yvonne Dolan decided to get tested for the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 which show a high risk of developing cancer.
Both her mother and father died from cancer, her sister had recovered twice from breast cancer while her best friend and cousin had also been diagnosed with breast cancer.
It took nine months to get the results and they were positive.
As a result she had been seeing a breast cancer specialist once a year, checking her breasts regularly and doing sporadic MRIs. She had just decided she would follow the example of actress Angelina Jolie and have a double mastectomy as a preventative measure.
“It was July 2013 and my whole world came crashing down. I found a lump in the shower. I was running at the time and thought I’d built up a bit of muscle. I went in to get it checked out and they came back and said we’re sending you for a biopsy.
“That was unusual, they hadn’t done that before. Six days later I was told it was breast cancer. You’re crying, you’re upset, I didn’t know how to process it and handle it. My best friend and I sat around a table and drank bottles of wine.”
While it was caught early, it had already spread to her lymph nodes. She immediately began chemotherapy in the Galway Clinic, a round every fortnight.
“I would bring in my DVD and was watching Breaking Bad. Here he was cooking up meths and here I was hooked up to a load of chemicals.”
For Yvonne, losing her long blonde hair was the most traumatic aspect of the experience.
“Before that you don’t look sick but when you lose your hair you look sick. I knew from my mother and sister about lumps coming out so I made an appointment and shaved it off and got a fantastic highlighted wig in Donnybrook. I got more compliments about my hair – I actually looked better coming out than going in.”
Yvonne decided to get a double mastectomy and get her lymph nodes removed for utmost caution. But the surgery was extremely tough and she felt like a car had driven over her. It took a long time to lift her arms, something she still finds painful.
“The biggest motivation was storing the wine glasses on the second shelf at home and climbing the wall like a spider to practice lifting my arms,” she recalls smiling.
She needed a second surgery to remove the expanders in her chest and the temporary implants, replacing them with the permanent ones.
The office manager for the engineering company Wood Group Kenny in Parkmore returned to work after a year, is back running three times a week and recently moved to a rented apartment in Barna.
“Myself and my husband have cats, not children, and we were rattling around in this big house in the country. I wanted to be nearer the city, have a fresh start, near the sea,” she explains.
“We’re like two teenagers, out every night like two rascals. Before I was a bit hesitant about doing things but I think cancer has changed me for the better. When opportunities come up now I embrace them. I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to leave my homeplace before.”
The Spring Fashion Show hosted by Breast Cancer Research takes place on Thursday, April 21, at from 7pm at the g Hotel. MC for the event will be RTE’s Teresa Mannion with designs and collections from Áil Rúin, Anthony Ryans, Brown Thomas, Colette Lachford Galway, Don’t Call Me Dear, Ellie & Dal, Harper, Kilkenny Shop, Suzie Mahony Designs, Muse by Dee, Niamh O’Neill, Olivia Danielle, Optique Opticians, Treasure Chest and Willow.
Proceeds from the event will support Breast Cancer Research, a national charity which is funding the research team at the Lambe Institute for Translational Research to advance its work focused on personalised medicine, breast regeneration and innovative diagnostics and therapeutics.
Tickets are €35, which includes a pre-show reception, can be purchased through the website or by email email or call 091 863 917.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
