"I was shocked at first, when I got my diagnosis. After that, I was just focused on my treatment and doing whatever had to be done.”
Finding a lump by accident when applying after-sun lotion in the summer of 2021 led Delma Butler from Kilkenny to receive a breast cancer diagnosis. It also brought into focus the importance of Delma paying attention to changes she noticed in her body.
“It was July 2021, and I was after being out in the sun,” says Delma. “I came in and was putting on after-sun, and I felt an unusual lump on my breast. It was quite big. That evening, I went to a neighbour’s house, and one of the other neighbours who was there was a nurse. I told her about it, and she it was something that I needed to get looked at.
“I didn’t panic. A week later, I went to see my GP. She didn’t think it was anything sinister, but she referred me to the breast clinic. I had a triple assessment, including a biopsy. After having the biopsy, in the back of my mind, I knew it was a bit suspicious."
Delma was diagnosed with stage three HER2-positive breast cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy and a node biopsy in September 2021. “After that, it turned out the lump was bigger than they thought. I had results that showed they didn’t get clear margins, so they did staging scans which were fine. Then I had to have a second lumpectomy in October, and they got clear margins that time.
“Then I met with the oncologist, and they put me on TCH chemotherapy in November 2021. When my hair started falling out a few weeks after my first treatment, it came out in clumps on one side. So, I just shaved it off. The hair loss was a nuisance, and the wig I had was uncomfortable. It was winter, so I just covered up with woolly hats.”
The chemotherapy treatment was difficult for Delma, and she says it made it difficult for her to complete everyday tasks, but she had the support of her spouse, Keith, throughout it.
“Every cycle was tough. The brain was slow to react to the body. I knew what I was trying to do, but it was like I couldn’t tell my brain what it needed to do. I’d have to physically tell myself to do things, like putting on my socks, but it would take so long. I was also very angry on that treatment for a few days after each cycle, because it made noises seem really loud and really irritating. It got in the way of doing normal, everyday things.”
Delma completed her chemotherapy treatment in 2022, and received Herceptin injections until November 2022. Early the following year she noticed another lump had developed on her breast. In January 2023, she raised her concerns about it with her surgeon who told her it was likely just scar tissue. She raised it again the following May, and a routine mammogram she was due to attend that September was moved forward to June.
“I had two lumpectomies, so there was scarring there, and it felt like there was a lump underneath the scar. I thought that it felt very similar to the original lump. The doctor said it was just scar tissue, but a couple of months later, the lump was getting bigger, and it resembled the first one, so I mentioned it again. They brought forward a mammogram that had been booked for me. I was biopsied again that day because the images looked suspicious. When I had it, they knew there and then it was back. I already knew.”
At this stage, Delma says that she decided she wanted to have a double mastectomy because she “just wanted to be done with it”. She waited eight weeks between her diagnosis that showed her breast cancer had recurred, and the double mastectomy being carried out.
“There were some delays between my diagnosis and the mastectomy, and I was quite anxious about if the cancer would grow for the month I was waiting for surgery. I knew it would be a long surgery because I was going to have immediate reconstruction at the same time. But speaking with the Irish Cancer Society’s Support Line reassured me.”
The recurrence came as a shock to Delma’s children, Conor (11) and Mia (14). They found it difficult when Delma came home after her double mastectomy surgery, which also included immediate implant reconstruction.
“I just took it in my stride the first time I was diagnosed, so they were actually fine. The second time, when I had the recurrence, they weren’t as fine. I think the first time, they just thought, ‘Mammy’s sick, she took some medication, and she got better’. They didn’t think it could come back, so that scared them.
“My daughter was very worried. When I came home after the double mastectomy, she said she was worried because I looked sick, I had drains in, and she saw that her Daddy had to help me. But she said once I recovered from that, she felt good again.”
Delma (40) recently finished 14 rounds of the chemotherapy drug Kadcyla. She has been on a waiting list for DIEP breast reconstruction surgery since early this year, after one of her breast implants failed. She says she wants to highlight the importance of breast checks, and she adjusted to living a full life around her treatment.
“I feel really happy. It could’ve been anyone, I don’t feel like, ‘Why me?’. I didn’t dwell on it. I did everything as normally as I could. I planned around my treatments and did everyday, normal things when I felt better. I went out for walks every day. Everything was normal for me, expect for the days when I wasn’t well after treatment.
“If you still have any doubt in your mind about anything suspicious, keep mentioning it to your doctor or consultant. Always go with your gut and keep getting it checked. I first mentioned my concerns in January, and it took until the end of June to get it confirmed. That’s six months that it had to keep growing, but thankfully it stayed confined to breast tissue, as further staging scans confirmed.
“If I had been breast checking the first time I found a lump, I would have found it sooner and possibly caught it at stage one, before it spread to my lymph nodes.”
