Three local women helping and encouraging other survivors of breast cancer
By Laura Lyne
THREE inspirational local women who have survived breast cancer are being featured as part of an exhibition on display in the Mater Hospital this month, entitled ‘Out the Other Side: Stories of Breast Cancer Survival’.
Nicola Cahill (35) from Tallaght, Lorraine Redmond (47) from Crumlin, and Roisín Dunne (49) from Kilmainham, shared their story as part of the exhibition, which was developed to offer encouragement to other breast cancer survivors and women living with the disease.
Each story shares the women’s personal experience of surviving breast cancer, a photograph of each survivor as they are today, and what surviving breast cancer has meant for each of them.
Roisín Dunne is a single mother and was diagnosed with breast cancer at 46 years old following a fall.
She said: “When they told me I had breast cancer all I could think about was my daughter. I couldn’t bear the thought of her going through her life alone.
“These days I live for the day I’m in. I don’t worry about saving for that rainy day anymore. Life is too short.
“People must have thought I was crazy, but once you’ve had to walk around with no hair and no eyebrows and bloated from steroids, looking silly doesn’t really matter. I was giving my child happy memories and that’s more important than fitting in.”
Lorraine Redmond was diagnosed in May 2014 following a routine mammogram she received every two years through a programme provided by her employers, Marks & Spencer.
Speaking about her experience, Lorraine said: “I had gotten into a rut of being a sensible grown-up. Having a nice car or a nice house isn’t half as much fun as rolling down the hill in the park with your grandkids. I’m the fun nanny.
“I’ve made some amazing friends – other women who have been through the same thing. This year at the Relay for Life in Ballyfermot, four of us got a tattoo on our wrists that says ‘Believe’, with the pink breast cancer ribbon running through it.”
Nicola Cahill was diagnosed with breast cancer a week after her 34th birthday in 2013 after experiencing pain in her right breast.
She said: “Everyone told me it was very unusual to be diagnosed with cancer at 34 so that first day walking into the chemo ward, I wasn’t expecting to see any other women my age. But I was wrong. I saw that its not rare to get breast cancer in your 20s or 30s.
“Cancer opened my eyes to the world and to people. These days I focus on the now and the people who have been with me on this journey. Nobody knows what’s around the corner.
“I stay positive, but a lot of that is down to the people around me.”
