Life after breast cancer... I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, says Cork woman

KINSALE woman Kelly McGowan found a lump in her breast in July, 2021, two days before she was due to graduate.

“It was bad luck,” says Kelly, aged 40.

And it was totally by accident.

“One evening I brushed my arm against my breast and said to myself; what’s that? The pit of my stomach fell out. I tried not to panic. I was only 38,” says Kelly.

She had an inner conversation.

“I questioned myself,” says Kelly. 

Did I imagine the lump?

She hadn’t.

“The next day, my GP confirmed that there was a lump in my breast, and she sent me to the Orchid Centre in CUH for a triple assessment.

“I waited three weeks for an appointment because of the HSE hacking. It was July 22 when I went to the breast clinic where I had a mammogram and an ultrasound.”

The lump Kelly had detected wasn’t a cyst.

“There was a solid mass there,” says Kelly. “I was still not too worried, I was quite young. I had a biopsy and was due back in two weeks for some results.

“Due to Covid, it was late August when I went back to the clinic. I didn’t want to go on my own, so my friend drove me to the hospital and waited in the car park. It was a busy department and I remember everyone there was seen before me.

“When the breast cancer nurse came along the corridor, she asked if there was anyone with me. I told her my friend was in the car. She went white and a minute later she told me I had breast cancer.”

What was Kelly’s reaction at this life-changing news?

“It felt weird,” says Kelly. “My grandmother had breast cancer and she had a lumpectomy and radiotherapy, and she was fine. That’s what’ll happen to me, I was thinking.”

Kelly’s breast cancer was an aggressive grade 3 cancer.

“The only treatment was chemotherapy,” she says.

“I thought, this is serious. This is cancer cancer. The nurse asked me If I had any questions and I asked her can my friend come in?”

Kelly explains: “I’m a pragmatic person and I wanted to know what the plan was. I needed my friend to listen as well so that I didn’t miss any information.

The breast cancer surgeon discussed everything with me, and he explained what triple negative cancer was.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of scans, heart tests and MRIs.

“I had to have another biopsy as more cancer was detected and metal clips were placed where the tumours were in my breast. On August 10, I saw my oncologist in the South Infirmary, he was fabulous,” says Kelly.

She’s not into make-up much, but she was proud of her waist-length long hair.

“My life was on the line and here I was worrying about losing my hair!” says Kelly, laughing.

“I asked my oncologist about my hair, and he said, it’s gone.”

Kelly felt a sense of calmness.

“Now I knew,” she says.

She decided to take control back.

“My friend is a hairdresser,” says Kelly.

“I asked her to cut my hair and then I donated it.”

Kelly started chemotherapy on August 23.

“My oncologist was wonderful, and we took everything step-by-step.”

There was another consideration for Kelly to think about, having been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.

“The issue of having children at 38 was a massive life decision,” says Kelly.

I was emotional and vulnerable. I had the option of freezing my eggs, but I made the decision not to.

“Instead, I took hormone blockers to shut the ovaries down, hoping the chemotherapy would leave them alone. What will be will be.

“I was very happy with my decision.”

Kelly was happy to go along with her chemotherapy sessions.

“I looked forward to going to chemotherapy sessions at the South Infirmary Infusion Unit,” says Kelly.

“The people are wonderful there. I made friends there, mostly women. Family and friends were very supportive, but they didn’t get 100% what I was going through.”

She went through a lot.

“I was often wide awake all the time and eating all around me due to the steroids,” says Kelly.

“My hair was shedding. I tried to find happiness in a horrible situation. No-one could come to my home because of Covid. I was alone for five months.”

Kelly, already going through the mill, spent five days in CUH when she contracted pneumonia. When she recovered, Kelly decided to have genetic testing because of her family history and because of the type of breast cancer she had.

“I was thinking I might be responsible for life-changing news for my family,” says Kelly.

Fortunately, that was not the case.

But she wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“I started on the next type of chemotherapy and after the second dose I had an allergic reaction,” says Kelly.

“My treatment had to be delayed and a new plan had to be put in place. Now the duration of the chemotherapy treatment was to take longer, nine weeks.”

That was incredibly hard, going through treatment for almost two months longer.

Christmas Day, 2021, was bitter-sweet.

“I spent that day on my own,” says Kelly. “Actually, it turned out lovely. I was in my PJs watching old movies.

“I saw my nieces and nephews open their Christmas presents via video call.”

Kelly’s cancerous tumour faded into the background.

“After the second dose of chemotherapy, I couldn’t feel the lump anymore,” she says.

“I finished chemotherapy in January, 2022. Then I was due to meet my surgeon. There was a good chance the tumour had gone.

“There was always the chance, like a grain of sand, one cell could start the cancer again.

“A lumpectomy and radiotherapy were discussed, or a mastectomy and possible radiotherapy.”

Kelly went with her gut instinct.

“In my gut and from my research, I decided to have a double mastectomy. That was the best choice for me,” says Kelly.

“My surgeon was amazing, and she agreed.

I had a single mastectomy on February 28, 2022, and I’m on a waiting list for the second mastectomy and double reconstruction.

Kelly was coming back to herself again.

“There were loads of side-effects from all the treatment,” she says.

“I have joint pain and nerve damage in my fingers and toes. The fatigue was unreal.”

But Kelly, being a pragmatic person, bounced back. She had a plan of her own.

“I decided on a brand new career,” she says.

“I didn’t feel I could work as a social worker. I felt I might do my clients a disservice. My confidence in me and my body had reached rock bottom.”

She decided to get stronger and fitter. She joined Ladies who Launch, and she launched a whole new outlook on life.

“I joined the ladies last summer,” says Kelly. “They are amazing.

“I am lucky that I don’t dwell on things, and a traditional support group sitting in a room talking wasn’t for me.

“I wanted to learn new skills that were good for my head and my body, with women who had gone through cancer.”

Kelly had a new tribe.

“I had lost my chemotherapy friends,” she says.

I missed the camaraderie and the links that gave me so much. Now I had new friends.

And she had a chance of a new, promising career.

“Outdoor therapeutic work inspired me,” says Kelly.

“I embarked on a Go Adventure Training course at Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre that involves hiking, kayaking, body boarding and canoeing. I thought, this is what I want to do.”

Kelly is geared towards getting her instructor qualification and immersing herself in the joys of life.

“I’m 40 now,” says Kelly. "Despite struggling with multiple side effects, I don't let it stop me. I'm fitter and healthier than I was before I had cancer."

She is not disappointed that her initial plan didn’t work out.

“My plan was to get my degree in social work, work in that area, and buy a house. All that was taken away from me getting cancer.”

Things are different now.

"I never wished I had cancer," says Kelly, "but in a lot of ways I'm grateful because it has changed my life for the better."

What else does Kelly feel?

“Life is brilliant! I’m the happiest that I’ve ever been.”