Our Mom Had Breast Cancer
Cancer has probably affected you in some way, whether through a personal diagnosis or that of a family member, friend or colleague. It’s that kind of disease… A disease where you inevitably know of someone who has been affected in some way and at some point in time.
We first learned that our mother had breast cancer when our father picked us from school one day. He told us that she was in the hospital. That she was recovering from her lumpectomy.
“What’s a lumpectomy?”, I heard my sister ask.
This was back in the 1990’s when awareness and support for breast cancer wasn’t quite what it is today. Thankfully, her cancer went into remission, but this experience forced us to ask some important questions. It kept us on track with our physicals and it forced us to not take our health lightly.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with breast cancer, another one of our close family members was also affected by this disease. Our beautiful and charismatic Anar Aunty very recently passed away, 10 years after being diagnosed. Her doctors had initially given her a prognosis of 2 years left of life many years ago, but she fought bravely and courageously, living her life to the very fullest.
Believe it or not, there was a time when cancer was considered an incurable disease - we’ve come a long way since then! There’s so much information available to us now on prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancer, but we’ve got to take ownership of our health and be our own self-advocates.
You know your body best. If you feel that something isn’t quite right, get it checked. If there’s a history of cancer in your family, talk to your doctor about early detection and genetic testing. Speak to your wellbe clinicians about prevention strategies – they’re always there for you. If you would like to learn more about breast cancer research and make a donation, visit the Breast Cancer Society of Canada.
This blog post was written by wellbe’s co-founder Sarina Visram and her sister Raheema Visram.