breast cancer and i m alsoj a patron of prevent breast cancer, so i guess i m grateful| maybe that s the wrong word to use but i am grateful| the experience i have of it really pushed me to go and get it checked. - that s amazing. thankfully, i caught it reallyl early because i went straight they diagnosed me with dcis, which is ductal carcinoma - in situ, which basically- means that the milk ducts have turned cancerous. and i also have sickle cell, | so i had to have a full body blood transfusion before i the surgery, which made us have to wait. so in total, it was about eight weeks from diagnosis - to surgery. by the time i had the surgery, the 4cm had become 7cm. - they d found micro invasion and then micrometastasesl in my armpit. in eight weeks.
many people in our audience. you were diagnosed with breast cancer in october 2021, weren t you? yes. i was breast feeding my son he was six months old at - the time and it s so hard - because i think, at that point, whether it s because i you are breast feeding or because you ve a baby, you assume that all those changes are because of- the hormonal changes and that kind of thing that s going on. i don t know i m the fifth- person in my family to develop breast cancer and i m alsoj a patron of prevent breast cancer, so i guess i m grateful| maybe that s the wrong word to use but i am grateful| the experience i have of it really pushed me to go and get it checked. - that s amazing. thankfully, i caught it really early because l i went straight in. they diagnosed me with dcis, which is ductal carcinoma - in situ, which basically means that the milk ducts have turned cancerous. and i also have sickle cell, | so i had to have a full body blood transfusion before| the surgery, w
so in total, it was - about eight weeks from diagnosis to surgery. by the time i had the surgery, the 4cm had become 7cm. - they d found micro invasion and then i micrometastases in my armpit. in eight weeks. so, i don t know how it s possible because dcis . is supposed to be non invasive, but it did~ and i had to get three opinions to get my diagnosis, so my main message always is to advocate for yourself | you know your body. better than anybody. yeah. before we let you go, because we could talk to you all night but unfortunately, we don t have the theatre all night, i d just like both of you sacha, like, cancer has come so far in the last five years since we have been recording. what are the things that excite you in terms of cancer treatment for the next five years? and then, i d love to ask victoria afterwards what do you hope for the future of cancer awareness? so, what i suppose would ve
to use but i am grateful| the experience i have of it really pushed me to go and get it checked. - that s amazing. thankfully, i caught it reallyl early because i went straight they diagnosed me with dcis, which is ductal carcinoma - in situ, which basically- means that the milk ducts have turned cancerous. and i also have sickle cell, | so i had to have a full body blood transfusion before i the surgery, which made us have to wait. so in total, it was about eight weeks from diagnosis - to surgery. by the time i had the surgery, the 4cm had become 7cm. - they d found micro invasion and then micrometastasesl in my armpit. in eight weeks. so, i don t know how it s possible because dcis . is supposed to be - non invasive, but it did. and i had to get three opinions to get my diagnosis, so my main message always is to advocate for yourself |
because i think, at that point, whether it is because i you are breast feeding or because you have a baby you assume the changes, l are because of the hormonal. changes and that kind of thing, and i don t know, i am - the fifth person in my family to develop it and i am a patron - of prevent breast cancer. so i guess i am grateful - maybe that is the wrong word to use, but i am - grateful the experience i have of it really pushed me to go and get it checked. amazing. thankfully i caught it really. early because i went straight they diagnosed me with dcis i which means that the milk ducts have turned cancerous. and i also have sickle cell, | so i had to have a full body blood transfusion before - the surgery, which made us have to wait so it was eight weeks - from diagnosis to surgery, and by the time i had the surgery, the four| centimetre mass had become seven centimetre. they found microinvasion