Writer Kate Figes asks why it took something so drastic for her to invest in her own self-care – and how now she’s done it there’s no going back
Devastating diagnosis
We would have years ahead of us to have fun and be selfish. Or so I thought. And then came the diagnosis. I had regular mammograms and had mentioned to two separate GPs that there was an itchiness in my left breast. When the aching in my ribs developed into sharp pains, tests revealed I had three fractured ribs and numerous lytic lesions all over my spine and ribcage – triple negative breast cancer, which had metastasised. Devastating news, which sprang without warning. No lumps. No noticeable changes. Just this itching. Now with an “advanced and aggressive” cancer, the future I had imagined we might have was suddenly whisked away.
Within days of the diagnosis I couldn’t stand for longer than two minutes or walk because of the pain. When the chemo started, it felt as if I had been run over by a train and infected with typhoid at the same time. I remember thinking that if this was what life was going to be like, then just kill me now. All of my anxieties about my daughters, now struggling with life in their early twenties, or what we might eat for supper, faded away.
This story is from the April 2018 edition of Woman & Home.
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This story is from the April 2018 edition of Woman & Home.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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