澳门彩开奖

Alice on the menopause after cancer treatment

Thursday 06 October 2022

澳门彩开奖 West London


There are a number of people who came into my life and contributed to the domino effect of diagnosing my cancer and saving my life when I was 35.


There was the friend who noticed a lump on my right breast.

We鈥檇 been out one night and back at home when we were getting changed out of our raving gear, she pointed to it and said 鈥淵ou have to get that checked, it鈥檚 glowing!鈥  

There was the doctor, who told me that she was 99% sure it was a cyst but she would refer me to the hospital anyway. 

There was the sonographer who took a biopsy at my ultrasound. Thank god she did.

Just a few days later, I had a phone call asking me to come in.

I was told, 鈥淚t's not good news, it's triple negative breast cancer and we need to start chemotherapy straight away鈥.  

I would go on to have a mastectomy. I also have the BRCA1 gene, so my ovaries and fallopian tubes would be removed as a precaution, inducing menopause. 

The dominoes had all fallen. 

Finding Maggie鈥檚 

I came into Maggie鈥檚 after my first chemo. I was so taken aback by the building and the greenery, right alongside one of the busiest roads in West London.  

I felt like I was going into some sort of retreat, going from the hospital where everything is very sterile-looking.  

You don't get a cushion on your seat in hospital, and you can鈥檛 switch off in the chemo room, but I could at Maggie鈥檚. 

I came in and just said 鈥淗i, I鈥檝e got cancer鈥, still not quite believing it. I met a lady who had already been through everything I was about to go through.

She was so vibrant and warm, which meant so much to me. Plus, she had really good hair! 

I started to come in at every opportunity and do every class and activity.

I could stop running when I got to Maggie鈥檚 and take a breath. It felt like being moored to a place. 

Entering the menopause 

When I finished treatment and it had been successful, I thought I would grow new hair, get new boobs and be all glowing and wonderful. It didn鈥檛 happen like that.  

After having my ovaries removed, I had a crash of oestrogen and felt like a completely different person.

The menopause for me was harder than the cancer, it was too much. I wanted to be out of my body. 

The brain fog made me feel like I was pushing a pile of rubbish up a mountain every day. I was so hot, sweaty, irritable and depressed.  

I just kept waiting for my real self to come back. 

How Maggie鈥檚 helped 

People can鈥檛 resist commenting that it鈥檚 鈥榮uch a shame鈥 if you鈥檝e had your ovaries removed as a young woman.  

Not having a partner or a job, or the choice to have children made me feel unmoored.

Even though I was over the cancer, the menopause made me feel like I was broken again. But I could break at Maggie鈥檚. 

I鈥檇 come in sweating a few times a week. I met others going through menopause, and I found a lot of perspective. I could find the funny side and laugh about it when I spoke to others too. 

The tranquillity and peacefulness of Maggie鈥檚 just helped me to align and collect myself.

Even though I was sweating, it helped me take a step back and realise it was OK.  

I鈥檇 come in feeling like a sad and lost soul. But I always walked out of Maggie鈥檚 feeling stronger than when I went in. 

Looking ahead 

I didn鈥檛 have any interest in dating or sex for years. But getting my hormone replacement therapy (HRT) sorted finally made me feel like I've got this.

I tried many different types of HRT - it鈥檚 important to find out what鈥檚 right for you and talk about your symptoms. 

I feel strong enough now to get back in the game; intimacy and sex are an option again, now that I鈥檓 not an inferno all the time. I鈥檓 in a much better place physically and mentally.


We鈥檙e here for you

If you or someone you love has cancer, Maggie鈥檚 is here with you. 

Come and see us at your nearest Maggie鈥檚, call us on 0300 123 180 or email us at enquiries@maggies.org.


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