A Co Derry woman has opened up about living with the same illness that claimed the life of her older sister.
Theresa Kelly was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in October 2019, only 15 months after her sister, Sarah Shiels, was given the same diagnosis in June 2018.
The 54-year-old told MyDerry that things were looking up for her family when Sarah was discharged after treatment but 'things took a turn for the worse' when she was then diagnosed two weeks later.
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"Everyone was in shock," Theresa said. "My whole family were left devastated because Sarah had just gone through an aggressive type of treatment and then when she was discharged I was given the news two weeks later.
"I had gone to see the GP after I had found a lump in my breast. I had begun checking myself more regularly because my sister had been diagnosed and I didn't want to be taking any chances.
"The GP had referred me for a red flag referral and very quickly I was seen and not long after that I had to undergo surgery for a mastectomy"
Theresa underwent four doses of chemotherapy between January and March 2020 before Covid-19, and 15 doses of radiotherapy in May 2020. Over two years later, the disease continues to have a lasting effect, with the mum-of-two now having to go through hormone therapy and bone-strengthening therapy for the foreseeable.
"Everything was a complete shock to me," Theresa continued. "About five years before my diagnosis, I had found a lump in my other breast and it turned out to be a cyst. I was fully expecting this to be the same.
"I actually told my GP that I thought it was another cyst and I had just made a routine call just so I could get it drained and get rid of it. Never did I think my life was about to change in the way that it did.
"I got the diagnosis that day and it left me totally shocked, but nothing compared to how my sister Sarah took it. She was totally heartbroken by the whole situation because she knew what was in front of me."
Sadly, despite being discharged in September 2019, Theresa's sister passed away in August 2022 after being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.
After experiencing a loss of her appetite, bloatinh and other gastric symptoms, Sarah was referred immediately and it was then that news was broken to the family that the breast cancer had now spread to her stomach, upper intestine, and ovaries.
"It just left me so angry," Theresa said. "I believe if she would have had a follow-up appointment after her first discharge like she should have done, then those could've been sooner and she could've been here for many more years to come.
"They call it self-directed aftercare and I don't believe it's right because you don't get the care that you should be getting. It basically means you're on your own.
"I was shocked when Sarah told me that she had been discharged and there would be no follow-up appointment. There was no contact whatsoever, not even a phone call.
"Bear in mind this was two years after she had gone through two years of aggressive cancer. I feel that women are being let down by this."
She continued: "We felt completely abandoned and it was as if there was a complete lack of understanding in the public and medical domain. It felt as if the word incurable meant the word invisible.
"That's why I really want all women who are going through this to make sure that they're regularly looking after their health and that if something doesn't feel right then they should go to their GP straight away.
"We would have been lost without our GP service and the Foyle Hospice during Sarah's end-of-life care, but as a family, we can't help but feel she was taken from us far sooner than she should have been."
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