In December 2022, 46-year-old Lisa Kelly from Santry in Dublin noticed she had been experiencing extreme fatigue. 

“I have health conditions, including Bronchiectasis and an adrenal insufficiency. So I went to my GP and she took my bloods. The scary thing was that when the results came back, it was my best set of bloods for about two years.

“Later that month I was doing my regular breast check and I found a lump. I had also checked in November and I knew it wasn’t there. I thought the lump was peri-menopause related, potentially hormonal. I kept an eye on it but there was no change. So I booked myself in to see the GP in the New Year.

“By the time I attended the GP I was feeling a burning sensation in my breast and it was quite itchy too. My GP referred me for a triple assessment in the breast centre, I was called back for my results and my initial diagnosis was DCIS (Ductal carcinoma in situ), an early form of breast cancer. They told me they were going to perform a lumpectomy and give me 3-4 weeks of radiation.

“My treatment plan then changed, with the two tumours I had to be booked in for a mastectomy. I also had a sentinel lymph node biopsy, which thankfully showed the cancer hadn’t spread here. I opted to go with a DIEP reconstruction following the mastectomy.

“It was seven weeks from the initial diagnosis to the big operation, I felt I didn’t even have time to bless myself!”

Following the surgery, my margins came back clear and the results from my Oncotype DX test showed the likelihood of reoccurrence was low, so my doctors decided I didn’t need chemotherapy or radiotherapy. I was prescribed hormone therapy however. 

Lisa says she is currently doing well as she awaits the next step in her breast reconstruction “I have gone back to the gym and my exercise classes, and I also have gone back to work on a phased basis. It’s my new normal. I can still get scared if I get an ache or a pain that it’s come back and spread. I’m not sure if that will ever leave me.

“I would encourage everyone to get to know the support services that are available. I was lucky enough to be part of an Irish Cancer Society Pilot programme, it’s called the Survivorship and Community Supports Pilot. As part of this, I met with an Irish Cancer Society nurse who guided and supported me, I have also been able to avail of counselling, an exercise programme and a life coach through this pilot. 

“My Irish Cancer Society nurse has been amazing and has been there for me every step of the way. This support was invaluable.”

Reflecting on her experience, Lisa says “Has breast cancer changed me? Yes, totally. My perspective and outlooks are very different to this time last year. I am living with a level of uncertainty, as are all cancer survivors. I’m constantly adjusting and readjusting to my new world.

"If I hadn’t found the lump that day, I would never have known about the tumour that was growing behind the lump I originally found. The story I am telling today could have been so very different.