I'll run Mini Marathon for Cork Cancer Care Centre that was there for me

The purple door at Cork Cancer Care Centre at 26, Paul Street, is the loudest colour and behind that door is the loudest laughter.

“My sister suggested I call to Cork Cancer Care Centre (CCCC) when I was going through my cancer journey,” says Antoinette O’Halloran from Ovens, living in Coachford.

“I rang the bell on the purple door, and I’ve never looked back. I spoke to Claire and she said, ‘Come in and have a chat with us’.

“When I was well enough, I went along every Tuesday morning.”

Founded by the late Ann Dowling Spillane, Cork Cancer Care Centre is a haven for people going through cancer, and their families.

“I’ve been going there ever since I rang the doorbell that day,” says Antoinette, who suffered from colorectal cancer and is receiving radiation treatment in her right lung.

“I find CCCC friendly and so cosy,” says Antoinette.

“It is a place where you can speak freely, where you can flourish, and where you can connect with others and enjoy the camaraderie between all the women and all the volunteers there.”

Antoinette, a keen walker, is all set to enjoy the familiar camaraderie and the buzzing atmosphere at The Echo Women’s Mini-Marathon on Sunday, September 22. She will be stepping out for the place she has come to know so well and that has helped her along her challenging cancer journey.

Five years ago, Antoinette, then aged 39, never suffered from anything major when she noticed blood in her stool.

“I went to the doctor about the bleed, and she used suppositories. When her hand was massaging me, I felt something weird, and I wondered ‘what was that?’

“Returning to the doctor, she examined me further but found nothing,” she recalls.

Antoinette went about finding out more.

“I went to the Mercy hospital to have a sigmoidoscopy,” she says. A sigmoidoscopy is a diagnostic test used to check the sigmoid colon in the lower part of the colon close to the rectum and the anus.

“That was in May, 2019,” says Antoinette, who went through a lot.

“A sample of a haemorrhoid from the very end of the rectum was sent off for testing. There was also a polyp present that wasn’t smooth but was raised. The word cancer wasn’t spoken but it was hinted at.”

Fortunately, Antoinette’s sister was with her when she got the bad news a week later: she had cancer.

“I was in total shock. I felt fine,” she says.

The cancer was contained and had not spread to any other organs.

“It was stage 3 cancer,” says Antoinette. “I asked the doctor if they could see anything else? They told me no.”

Like anybody receiving a cancer diagnosis, Antoinette’s life changed overnight.

“I had the Camino booked,” she says.

“The good news was that I could go. I was told nothing would happen for two weeks until my chemotherapy treatment plan to suit me was arranged.”

The Camino trip wasn’t quite what Antoinette had initially hoped it would be. The spectre of cancer travelled with her.

“It was not the trip I had planned,” says Antoinette.

“I needed to relax so I made use of a lot of taxis. I knew coming back I was starting chemo. That was scary.

“I knew the possible side-effects, vomiting, loss of hair, fatigue, etc. But steroids helped restore my energy levels and my appetite. Anti-nausea tablets helped too.”

Antoinette went through gruelling rounds of chemotherapy treatment followed by radiation treatment. She then faced bowel surgery to remove the 2½ inch tumour and a hysterectomy.

How did Antoinette, a woman in her prime, feel about that?

“They took my womb,” says Antoinette. “I wasn’t expecting things to go in that direction. It was very upsetting. I didn’t expect it. It was pretty shocking.”

She was kept in the loop.

“The surgeon told me straight away that he was removing the cancerous tumour and my womb. After, he told me that he had removed some pelvic bone also for precautionary reasons.”

How did Antoinette recover?

“It was pretty serious for at least 14 days,” she says.

And she still wasn’t out of the woods after a fortnight.

“Post-op, during a routine check-up, I found out that I had nodules in my lungs. The colorectal cancer had metastasized in both lungs.”

Even though Antoinette couldn’t have any visitors in hospital during Covid, she was introduced to ‘Marie’.

“Marie was my stoma bag, which I got reversed in remission,” says Antoinette. “‘Marie’ saved my life. I called my stoma bag after a lovely nurse in CUH, ‘Marie’. She never let me down and came to me even at weekends.”

Antoinette had to use an NG feeding tube inserted into her stomach.

“That was horrific,” she says.

Not a lady to give up easily, Antoinette began recovering slow but sure.

“In June, 2020, after my operation, I went through 12 chemotherapy sessions again for preventative measures. I think those treatments were a bit harder on me. I was back on steroids, and I suffered from ‘chemo weight’ when I bloated up. It was very hard going.”

Antoinette has a positive attitude.

“I could be prone to anxiety and depression,” she says. “The tools I’ve learned to deal with those come into play. I decided I’d enough time wasted.”

She was going to sort out the issue with her lungs.

“When I finished chemo and radiation treatment, I went to Rathgar Dublin,” says Antoinette. “I was admitted to St James Hospital. It was still during Covid, and I couldn’t mix with anyone.”

How was her bowel behaving?

“It was behaving fine,” says Antoinette.

“When I completed chemo in June, 2022, I was told I had two nodules in my lungs. I got radiation treatment on one of them. After some to-ing and fro-ing, I had a lobectomy in my left lung in February, 2024.”

Where is she at now?

“I am awaiting radiation treatment in my right lung in Dublin,” says Antoinette. “That’s where I’m at now.”

When she’s at Cork Cancer Care Centre, Antoinette knows exactly where she is.

“I’m among friends who support me and who understand what I’ve been through and what I’m going through,” she says.

“I use the free holistic therapy practiced by the love, Marilou. She also does Reiki, Acupuncture and Lymphatic Draining Practice. We are so lucky to have her.”

CCCC is lucky to have Antoinette, who will be stepping out to raise funds for them by taking part in The Echo Women’s Mini Marathon on September 22.

“I am so lucky to have Cork Cancer Care Centre and I am so lucky to have a loving, supportive family.”

This lady doesn’t hang about.

“I’ve taken part in The Echo Women’s Mini-Marathon before,” says Antoinette.

“Walking is my thing. I love the day out. I’m loving life and I’m in good health.”

Antoinette has the right attitude. “I find there’s no point in worrying,” she says.

For more on Cork Cancer Care, email corkcancercarecentre@gmail.com 26. They are located at St. Paul’s Avenue, T12 W294. Phone: 021-4949090.

To register for The Echo Women’s Mini Marathon, see echolive.ie/minimarathon