‘Only You Know Your Body. If You Feel Like There’s Something Off, Get It Checked’

In Ireland, one person is diagnosed with cancer every 15 minutes. Nearly 42,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, with an average of 9,874 lives being lost to the illness.

Ciara Jones was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in October 2022. This a common type of breast cancer that affects 8 out of 10 patients.

On the same day of her diagnosis, she found out that she was 4 weeks pregnant with her third child.

While at an unrelated GP’s appointment, the 34-year-old from Clare asked the doctor to check a lump that she had developed.

“I got an immediate referral because I had a cyst in the same place years ago,” she tells STELLAR. Ciara recalls feeling “completely numb” at the time of her diagnosis.

“You don’t really know what to feel. It was a little bit blurry if I’m honest. I completely went off the grid, I didn’t tell anyone.

“I isolated myself because I didn’t want to be known as the girl with cancer. I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want the conversation to be about cancer, I wanted to try and be normal but how can you be normal with something like that?”

Another woman who knows all too well the isolation a cancer diagnosis can bring is Karen Kruger. Like Ciara, Karen is also a young mum who found herself faced with a cancer diagnosis.

She was diagnosed with stage 3 HER2 Negative breast cancer in February 2022 and recalls these feelings of loneliness.

While planning her son’s 1st birthday, Karen found a lump in her left breast, so she booked a GP visit straight away.

Karen & her family

Between the hustle and bustle of Christmas and Covid, it wasn’t until February when Karen received her original diagnosis of stage 1 breast cancer.

In the following weeks, more scans and a biopsy changed her diagnosis from stage 1 to stage 3.

“I truly thought that it would never happen to me,” she says. “I was busy training for a half marathon and loving life. I don’t think the realisation of my diagnosis really sunk in for many weeks. It was like I was living someone else’s life.”

Due to back logs in appointments because of Covid, Karen recalls suffering significantly with her mental health and with the fear of the unknown, “No matter how much support I got, I think every person that experiences cancer has that sense of aloneness.

“I found the waiting between scans and results to be excruciatingly difficult, from the day I was diagnosed in February to when I had my mastectomy, it was the longest 8 weeks of my life. Every minute felt like a day.

“You struggle with your mental health. Cancer doesn’t just destroy your body it destroys your mind. Your body heals but your mind take a long time to heal.”

Karen received huge support from her friends, family, and neighbours: “I would come home to loaves of bread on my doorstep, they would bring my children to school, collect them, they would bring me to appointments if I needed.

“Cancer is the worst thing that’s happened, but it certainly brings the best out of people.”

This year, Breast Cancer Ireland, Breakthrough Cancer Research, and the Marie Keating Foundation have come together ahead of World Cancer Day (Sunday 4th February) to launch a new campaign called Face Up To Cancer.

The digital fundraising campaign aims to encourage people to upload their selfies and make a donation in support of cancer research and support services.

Undergoing a mastectomy at 10 weeks pregnant followed by chemotherapy, Ciara wasn’t aware of a lot of resources depicting her own experience. So, before joining Face Up To Cancer, she decided to start a new Instagram page to share her journey, and meet other women going through something similar.

Ciara and baby Luke

“There is loads out there about breast cancer but not pregnancy and breast cancer,” she says. “I wanted to hear some success stories because obviously I was having a baby and I didn’t know which way it was going to go.

“In two months, I had 1,000 followers and it had kind of grown from there, there was a huge response to it. I was looking for commonality. Anybody who was going through the same thing.”

Similarly, Karen decided to use her own experience to help others. Once she had finished her chemotherapy and radiation, she set up her cancer coaching practice.

As a qualified executive and leadership coach, she helps people manage their cancer diagnosis and life after cancer. “It allows me to use my life experience in a way that helps other patients and survivors,” she says.

Karen and Ciara are both doing well now post treatment, and adjusting to their new lives after their diagnoses.

Ciara’s new normal includes juggling motherhood, keeping up with her gym routine and working full time.

Karen has adapted a more positive mindset, and now tries to prioritise her own needs and not to sweat the small stuff, “I try and enjoy my memories, events out with friends and family and really create lasting memories.”

When asked what advice they would give to others, Ciara says to “be vigilant,” while Karen adds: “Make sure that you take time for yourself, take time to appreciate you.

“Only you know your body. If you feel like there’s something off, make sure you get it checked. Early intervention genuinely saved my life and if I can portray that message to one person across the world, I’m happy. Just get it checked.”

To support this year’s Face Up To Cancer campaign, you can upload your own selfie and make a donation here. 

Words by Grace Sweeney 

• health
• world cancer day