Wellbeing

This month we’re...

Photography by Charles Moriarty; charlesmoriartyphotography.com

the fourth grade

B

reast cancer is now the most frequently diagnosed cancer and leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide. Most don’t even realise that the women that die of breast cancer, unfortunately die of metastatic breast cancer (mets). This is where the cancer has spread to other organs in the body (usually the lungs, liver or brain), and is called grade 4 cancer in medical terms. For most women, getting this diagnosis seems like the end of the road. On being diagnosed with mets myself on the 11th of February this year, my oncologist said that at this point the disease is incurable and that her job is to “lengthen the life” of me, the patient, through chemotherapy and radiation. Let’s just say that it was a little more than a blow. My life literally flashed before me over the following weeks. I had myself dead and buried and wept daily, visualising my son without a mother. All I remember in the haze of what the doctor was saying to me, was that the breast cancer had travelled to my bones, and a week later, I found out that the cancer was occupying most of my liver too. At the age of 38, this was not how I envisaged my life to be. So I decided to find out everything I possibly could about this disease and how best to tackle it. There are so many variations of breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancer, oestrogen positive breast cancer, her2 positive breast cancer, etc. Each woman diagnosed knows her cancer makeup. Survival rate of mets is one to three years. 1,500-2,000 women are living with mets in Ireland. I am not going to dwell on statistics though, as they just do not ring true for me when we are dealing with hormones, and especially my own body. All I wanted to do was to speak to mets patients and ask how they were doing, and so, between family and friends, I managed to connect with women living all over the world to see what they were doing to combat this disease. Of course there are some websites on the matter, but nothing speaks more to me than face to face encounters. We got on Skype. I learned so much from these conversations – what drugs these women were on, to the diet they were keeping. All their regimes differed. So I just had to decide on what works for me. 80 www.vipmagazine.ie

“I found out everything I could about this disease and how best to tackle it.” Designer and survivor, Fiona Cribben, shines a light on the far too rarely discussed matter of metastatic breast cancer... I have found that metastatic breast cancer is not discussed as much breast cancer in the media, but things are gradually improving, with the Irish Cancer Society, the Marie Keating Foundation and even a programme on TV3’s Ireland AM, all discussing mets. Breast Cancer Awareness Month was October, and I attended all sorts of charitable events and seminars in connection with the disease. One seminar I attended was Patient Voice in Cancer Research, in connection with BREAST-PREDICT (breastpredict.com), which is an organisation funded by the Irish Cancer Society. Their goal is to convert better understanding of the disease at a biological level into improved diagnostics and therapies. It was such an eye-opener listening to all of these PhD students and scientists talk about their research into breast cancer and the future of their research. I want to know what the future holds for breast cancer patients and what is going to be available in the coming months and years. These are the people that are going to be able to help me and future patients. Having learned that it takes almost 10 years to get a new drug passed, it’s good to know what trials are going on now. Medical science doesn’t currently know the exact mechanism through which breast cancer cells migrate to other organs of the body. But hopefully in the future they wont even have to know, as through diet and proper exercise, we will have evolved away from cancer and only healthy humans will be getting their juices at the local shop! In saying that, women still go undetected, as we all think: ‘Oh I won’t get breast cancer. It’s not in my family.’ Ask the next five women you meet have they checked themselves recently, as it’s just so important. It was my mum that advised me to do so, only for me to check and discover a dimple, and hard, pea-sized lump that didn’t move on my right breast. Were it not for her, I might not have examined myself eight years ago, when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Check yourself, and advise all the women you know to do so too. Early detection is key to survival. See Fiona’s brilliant blog on living with mets at http://fionacribbenlovelife.blogspot.ie/; and check out her incredible artwork on fionacribben.com. This lady really is some woman for one woman.

…ADDING some Lorna Jane workout gear to our Christmas wish-list. Because of course, after Christmas, we’ll have a body like that (see right)! We especially have our eyes on the body support full-length leggings (€89), known as the ‘Fit Woman’s Secret’. These leggings are figure-flattering and supportive, thanks to an internal power mesh paneling that flattens and shapes. We will need them. Soon. Check them out at ellebellefit.com. …INVESTING in some proper outdoor clothing as we head out in this crisp winter air to pound the pavement and kick up those autumn leaves. Regatta’s ‘Rediscover Heritage’ range promises head-to-toe warmth with three levels of insulation. We feel cosy already. …FINDING happiness through cooking. Garrett Fitzgerald is the proud owner of Brother Hubbard, one of our favourite local lunch spots, here at VIP HQ. Last month, much to our hungry delight, Garrett published his first cookbook of Middle Eastern and southern Mediterranean dishes, all of which are nutritious and wholesome, and often deceptively vegetarian. First on our cooking-to-do list? Turkish Eggs Menemen. …FEELING tired. So, to energise ourselves, especially for the season ahead, we’re taking Cellnutrition Quinton, a complete mineral and fully organic supplement made from pure, mineral-rich seawater that is harvested from a pristine plankton bloom in an internationally protected part of the Atlantic Ocean. Sounds fancy? It is. And it’s thanks to its 78 essential minerals and trace elements that restore and rebalance our cells. €40 at cellnutrition.ie, and pharmacies nationwide.

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