Survivors' friends and family talk about cancer
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
NEW research has revealed that people’s over-riding cancer fear is its impact on family – more than the diagnosis itself or treatment.
A campaign highlighting the importance of early diagnosis is back on TV screens – and one of the cancer survival stories it tells is that of Elgin woman Fiona Lochhead, wife of Moray MSP Richard Lochhead.
The Survivors campaign aims to tackle fears which can often delay people seeing their GP or attending screening.
Loved ones of cancer survivors have backed the campaign to drive home how fear of impact on family and friends shouldn’t delay or prevent people getting checked.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Jeane Freeman said: "We’ve already seen progress in the number of early-stage diagnoses of breast, bowel and lung cancers in Scotland through the Detect Cancer Early Programme, and continuing to raise awareness of the importance of early detection is key if we are to further improve Scotland’s cancer survival rates.
"Talking about cancer is never easy, and I’m grateful to those who have shared their survival stories as part of this campaign to help change the way cancer is viewed in Scotland."
Fiona's best friend, Viv Wilson, from Insch, has spoken of her admiration for the way Fiona handled her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015 and subsequent treatment. Fiona was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease in October 2015, aged 43.
Viv, now 45, was with Fiona, 46, on the day she received the news that the lump was cancerous.
Viv said: "Fiona was standing in her kitchen making pancakes for everyone. Once the boys had left the room she told me she had found a lump and had made an appointment to see the doctor. I could tell she was very worried.
"Fiona’s husband, Richard, was going to be away at the time of the referral appointment, so I said I would go along with her on the day.
"I knew when the nurse approached me with a box of tissues in her hand and asked me to follow her that it wasn’t going to be good news. I sat down beside Fiona and the consultant told us the news that they had found cancerous cells. I just remember Fiona for a second slumping forward and giving one sob, then she sat up straight, gathered herself and said ‘OK, what’s next?’."
Fiona was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer which required surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Three weeks after diagnosis she went through a therapeutic mammoplasty, and six weeks after surgery she started chemotherapy.
Viv said: "I was confident right from the start that she would cope throughout her treatment – she’s a strong, strong woman – but I was really worried about the feeling of complete and utter fear I knew she was going to have immediately after the diagnosis and the time until treatment started. I imagine it’s an extremely lonely place to be."
Fiona, who worked with charity Breast Cancer Now throughout her treatment and recovery, said: "I had a lot of different emotions in the lead-up to and after diagnosis. When you hear the news, everything is immediately different and the fear I felt was, at times, overwhelming.
"I remember the feeling of stupidity, that I wasn’t checking my breasts for lumps, which is why I wanted to work with Breast Cancer Now to raise awareness. I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I was going through, and I suppose speaking about it publicly and sharing the news on social media helped me normalise things.
"Treatment was tough at times, but every round of chemotherapy brought me nearer to where I needed to be. You just do it and get on with it because there’s no other option. I can’t praise the NHS enough.
"The kindness I received from friends, family and strangers was overwhelming and very humbling. The things people said and did made me feel very loved, and a lot of women said to me they’d started checking themselves, which for me was the best thing to come out of something so awful."
Friends and family of those who have survived cancer can tell their stories using #MySurvivor. For more information visit getcheckedearly.org.
