Before she received her diagnosis in November 2023, Jennifer Ffrench had no indications that she had breast cancer. “It was through a routine mammogram with BreastCheck and I had no symptoms at all; it was a complete surprise,” says Jennifer, from Duncormick in Wexford. “In fact, this is how lucky I am – I rang to postpone my mammogram because my son had an appointment at the exact same time on the same day. I thought, ‘there’s nothing wrong with me, I’ll push the mammogram out a bit.’ But instead, they had a cancellation and brought my appointment forward.”

Her mammogram showed an abnormality and further tests confirmed that Jennifer had stage 1 triple negative breast cancer. 

“I was stunned,” she says. “I’m not even sure I’ve processed it really because things happened so quickly for me then. I had the biopsy and then, a week later, I was with the surgeon. Two weeks later, on December 1, 2023, I had surgery and then in January I met my oncologist and started chemo.” 

Jennifer had eight rounds of chemotherapy and has now begun radiotherapy. She found chemotherapy challenging. “It really knocked me health-wise, and it was trying to find the right drugs to combat the nauseousness without feeling like you were a zombie,” she says. 

After her diagnosis and throughout her treatment, she tried to take a pragmatic approach. “I’m a pharmacy technician and for a number of years, I’ve worked on the oncology side, behind the scenes. Now that I’m on the other side as a patient I’ve told myself, ‘This is going to be ok. It’s stage 1, it hasn’t gone into the lymph nodes. The chemo and radiotherapy are more preventative than anything else.’ I didn’t let it absorb me; I just took it step by step.”

But she hadn’t anticipated how chemotherapy would make her feel. “I think I thought I would have an easier time of it. I always thought I’d be in the category of ‘oh, side effects happen to other people but I’m young and fit enough for that not to happen to me’. And then it did,” says Jennifer, who is 53 years old. “I didn’t realise that every single person has a different experience.” 

Jennifer has been impacted by the financial burden of cancer. “I’m on a limited income now and pay the mortgage. I have one son in university and another due to start in September. I have applied for a medical card and was denied. Every fortnight I had pre-chemo bloods taken with my GP, which I had to pay up front,” she says. “It’s been really hard financially. I can just about support the family. It’s taken a number of stressful months submitting all of the supporting documentation to apply for the medical card. I don’t know if I’ll be able to take the time to recuperate. I have to get back to work.” 

During her chemotherapy, she attended the Hope Cancer Support Centre for reflexology. “Once I finish radiotherapy, I’ll join their breast cancer support group. Those supports and the people you meet to talk to are brilliant services to have.”

For anybody who received a similar diagnosis, she advises learning about the type of breast cancer you have. 

“I had no idea there were so many types of breast cancer. I would say the first thing is to educate yourself on what exactly you have because when you say, ‘I have breast cancer,’ five people are going to tell you that their cousin had it or their aunt had it. But there are so many different kinds, and your story is going to be different to your friend’s aunt. Education is key.”