One in seven women in the Netherlands will develop breast cancer. Twenty percent of these are under the age of fifty. In the latest Grazia three young women tell their stories, including Meta (35).
Same day
“Actually, I already felt it when I was 29. It was a hard piece of tissue in my right breast. The doctor felt it too, but doubted whether it was something. Partly because there was no breast cancer in my family and I was very sporty. For my own peace of mind, he referred me for a mammogram at the hospital. Nothing came out of that, but when I felt a new, hard bump at my nipple two years later, I went to the doctor again. This time he thought it was a cyst or an inflamed capillary. Still, she referred me for another mammogram. The next day I got the results by phone. I was at work and the doctor on the line immediately started. She said that I had breast cancer and that it was very serious. The same day I was in her consulting room.”
Am I dying?
“In order to determine where the cancer was, an MRI scan had to be made first. I also got this result quickly and my breast turned out to be full of cancer. My doctor immediately said that my breast had to be amputated and that I probably wouldn’t be able to have children because of the chemotherapy. So what did I prefer: freezing eggs or embryos? Suddenly I panicked. Amputation, chemotherapy, egg freezing ..? It went way too fast for me. I was stuck with the news that I had breast cancer, but suddenly I thought: am I going to die? My doctor responded very matter-of-factly to this question: ‘With everything we’re going to do, we hope to keep you alive as long as possible’.”
Freezing eggs
“At home I discussed the options with my friend. Since he lived abroad, we were in a long-distance relationship, but he happened to be with me during that period. Like me, he was in shock. We had never talked about children, but we wanted to move in together. Suddenly we had to deal with freezing eggs or embryos. I said I’d understand if he ran away screaming, but he didn’t want to hear about it. He was there for me no matter what.”
“Because I didn’t feel comfortable with my doctor’s way of communicating, I asked for a second opinion from a specialized hospital. There I received the same diagnosis, but the communication was a lot more pleasant. In the meantime, I had already started a three-week IVF process in the first hospital. Some of my eggs were frozen, in case the chemotherapy would indeed be harmful to my fertility. Because the MRI scan did not clearly show how many tumors there were in my breast, an amputation was first performed in the new hospital. After that I got sixteen rounds of chemotherapy.”
Good news
“At my request, my left breast was also removed six months after the mastectomy. I’m very sober, so I didn’t find that difficult. I’d rather have no natural breasts than not have them at all. And moreover: with a reconstruction, the former could also be ‘solved’ again.”
“The silicone I have now is soft and natural, I’ve gotten used to it. Still, the past few years have been incredibly tough. Not only for me, but also for my boyfriend. From the moment I was ill, he stayed with me in the Netherlands and that has greatly strengthened our relationship. That I had my first period again this summer after chemo and hormone therapy was a nice confirmation. It means that hopefully in the future I can have a child naturally and I am very happy about that.”
Text: Renée Brouwer | Image: iStock