50 years since diagnosis on NW Tassie!
Acticle in The Advocate: http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/1402840/shared-experiences/
Re-typed below: a wonderful life story!
FIFTY years survival of breast cancer is a dream for most women suffering from the disease.
But for Elaine Marsh it is a reality.
Mrs Marsh found a lump in her breast when she was just eight months pregnant.
She went to the doctor and had a biopsy, which showed she had breast cancer.
"Apparently I had the lump all my life, but it was aggravated by pregnancy," she said.
The cancer was quite aggressive, according to Mrs Marsh, and resulted in a mastectomy after the birth of her baby.
"Everything happened so quickly," she said.
"I wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for the people of Wynyard praying.
"Being in the church has really helped."
Cancer is "well-entrenched" in her family, she said.
With five out of six siblings having suffered from cancer, Mrs Marsh said she was very aware of cancer, what it does to people and encouraged her children to get regular mammograms and check- ups.
After the original lump, Mrs Marsh had a few more scares with cancer.
"Ten years after the original lump, I had a lump every year for four years in a row," she said.
But fortunately nothing eventuated from them.
Fifty years ago there was no support groups for women suffering from breast cancer, everything was just swept under the rug, according to Mrs Marsh.
"At that time, you weren't allowed to talk about it; I had a nervous breakdown 10 years later as a result," Mrs Marsh said.
"People would cross the street because they didn't know what to say."
Having had to go through the experience on her own, Mrs Marsh does not want other women to have to do that.
"It's been a pretty major thing, you can never forget it," she said.
So she visits support groups to tell her story and to encourage other women in their own journey through breast cancer.
"It must give you hope to go to a support group and see someone who has survived 50 years there," Mrs Marsh said.
"You can always learn something, if it's only something you can rub into your skin," she said.
Comments
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Thank you so much for this post Mandy!
I have been going through a bit of a rough patch of late, what with my first yearly mammogram coming up in early December, anxiety is setting in and I have been feeling very emotional. I ended up picking up the phone and calling a breast cancer couselling facility to get some support and I feel better already. Reading Elaine's story has made me feel even better!
God bless!
Vicki
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Thank you so much for this post Mandy!
I have been going through a bit of a rough patch of late, what with my first yearly mammogram coming up in early December, anxiety is setting in and I have been feeling very emotional. I ended up picking up the phone and calling a breast cancer couselling facility to get some support and I feel better already. Reading Elaine's story has made me feel even better!
God bless!
Vicki
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Thank you so much for this post Mandy!
I have been going through a bit of a rough patch of late, what with my first yearly mammogram coming up in early December, anxiety is setting in and I have been feeling very emotional. I ended up picking up the phone and calling a breast cancer couselling facility to get some support and I feel better already. Reading Elaine's story has made me feel even better!
God bless!
Vicki
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Great story , it made me think of my mum who had bc at 35, and is now 78 and more healthier than me, mum said the doctor told her, now just go home and get on with it, I remember my dad dressing hers scars and pouring good old mercuricome that red stuff down her chest, Yes haven't things come a long way, my mums scars are horrendous but she is here. Adean0
