'My gut told me it was cancer' says nurse who discovered lump on day she was due to view wedding menus
Deidre, who works in the Ladywell Centre, Dundalk, is sharing her story to raise awareness around the importance of women doing regular self-examinations, no matter what age they are.
"I was so lucky that I checked my breasts regularly. The lump was still very small but it was stage 2 and was growing very quickly so if I hadn't caught it, I could have been stage 3 before it was detected,' says Deidre who was only 29 when she was diagnosed.
'My story starts on December 2, 2018,' she recalls. 'I would usually do a breast check every few weeks. I was getting ready for a shower and did my self exam and found a lump. I knew instinctively it wasn't normal.
"My gut told me straight away it was cancer. I told my fiancé (now husband) what I found and we agreed we would go to the GP first thing Monday morning. The day I found my lump we were going for our wedding menu tasting.'
Her GP referred her to breast clinic in Beaumont and she. was sent for an ultrasound on February 14, 2019.
"It was a very romantic Valentine's,' she quips even though at the time, she knew that something was wrong.
'The sonographer was a lovely woman and I knew by her face something wasn't right. She did a biopsy and my worst fears were confirmed in my head. It was just a matter of waiting.
'The following week I was called back and told yes it is cancer. Even though I knew, it was still one of the worst moments of my life,' says the Co Meath native.
"This was four weeks before my wedding. I was 29 years old. A very fit and healthy woman. I didn't smoke, didn't drink excessively. Ate very healthily. No family history of breast cancer. I couldn't get my head around it all. I was terrified.
She recalls that the doctor explained what would happen next.
"I heard the words surgery, chemotherapy, radiation. I am a nurse and have nursed people who have gone through this. I never believed it would be me. I had one son and two step children at the time and all I could think of was them.'
The following few weeks were a blur of wedding preparations and surgery.
"I was referred to the Rotunda for egg harvesting and was up and down the road to Dublin a couple of times a week. We had to cancel our dream honeymoon as at the time I was waiting for results of lumpectomy and to see if it had spread. Thankfully it hadn't spread but I was then told it was triple negative breast cancer.'
Deidre says that the couple had their 'beautiful wedding and a short honeymoon in Ireland' before she started treatment.
"Overall I feel I am one of the lucky ones. I tolerated the chemo well and managed the radiation with little side effects.'
She also took part in a clinical trial which will hopefully improve the outcomes for those with my diagnosis.
"I've had genetic testing and so far have shown no genetic predisposition. I'm so glad that early detection meant I was treated early and my cancer was managed.'
Since then, Deidre has had two little boys, Harry who was born in 2021 and Leo who was born in 2023, and the family live near Knockbridge outside Dundalk.
"I am keeping well. I am now six year's cancer-free and hopefully will continue to do well.'
Apart from attending routine yearly check-ups, Deidre says she doesn't dwell on the fact that she had cancer and doesn't let it stop her from living her life.
Over the years she has raised funds for Breast Cancer Ireland, taking part in the various runs and even organising her own coffee morning that raised over €8,500.
She is now looking forward to taking part in the Very Pink Run at Leopardstown Race Course on September 6.
Although she likes working out in the gym and walking, she says she will be running not walking as she wants to stay with the group of supporters who are accompanying her to the fun, family-friendly festival style day out with music and food.
"I have people of various ages and abilities coming with me so I want to stay with them,' she says.
The event at Leopardstown is one of three taking place around the country, with the others at the MTU campus in Cork on September 7 and in Kilkenny Castle Park on September 14 with 5k and 10k course options.
Participants can also take part 'virtually', anywhere that suits them, across local communities and indeed across the world. Registration is at www.verypinkrun.ie and all funds raised will support Breast Cancer Ireland's pioneering research into metastatic disease progression and awareness programmes nationally.
Participants can take part by running, jogging or walking, in one of three live large-scale physical events. Alternatively, people can also take part in a 'virtual' sense in their own local communities any time between September 6 and 14.
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