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For me every step will be a celebration of LIFE!

My encounter with breast cancer was very brief and I count myself extremely fortunate to have been diagnosed early and not to have had any treatment after surgery.

In August 2008 I was diagnosed with DCIS – Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. The good news for me was that this is a very early stage breast cancer, but I was not expecting to be told by the surgeon that the only option open to me was mastectomy. That took some getting used to! I was then told that as there was very little chance of me needing chemo or radiotherapy after the surgery, I had the option of immediate reconstruction. This was a tough decision to make – I was still coming to terms with the idea of losing a breast and wasn’t sure how I would feel about some foreign object inside me. I did a lot of research into breast reconstruction and wasn’t particularly thrilled by the results. This period of decision making was so stressful, but it was a humorous moment that eventually helped me make my decision: a cousin of mine was telling me the story of her mother-in-law’s prosthesis falling out of her bra and floating away as she bent over a lake to feed the fish with her grandchildren!

The date for my mastectomy was set and I organised to have 6 weeks off teaching. The surgery went according to plan. However, the drains didn’t function properly and so later the same day I was taken back into the operating theatre to drain the site. I was very weak and struggled to eat for at least 10 days after the procedure, and the pain from the reconstruction was considerable. But after 6 weeks I was ready to go back to teaching, and I just went from strength to strength.

I was so blessed to have the support of family, friends and colleagues. My sister flew up from Cape Town to nurse me when I first came out of hospital; family, friends, church friends and colleagues supplied us with meals so that we didn’t have to cook for weeks; my daughter who was in matric at the time changed my dressings for me; and family and friends all over the world prayed for me.

So last year I decided to enter for the Comrades marathon. I am so grateful to God, to the support of friends and family, and to early diagnosis, to be well, healthy, strong, and fit enough to be running this great race. For me every step will be a celebration of LIFE!