“I just didn’t feel right. I felt very tired, but I just put that down to having a new baby,”
When Angela O’Connell from Dublin was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2023, it came as a shock. Angela (32) had no family history of breast cancer, and she had recently given birth to her second child when she was diagnosed.
“I had a six-month-old son and a five-year-old,” says Angela. “I just didn’t feel right. I felt very tired, but I just put that down to having a new baby. Then one day I was lying down, and I felt a heavy feeling on my right side and noticed a cluster of lumps that I hadn’t realised were there before. I went to my GP, and she referred me straight to the Breast Clinic.”
One of the first stumbling blocks Angela encountered was an initial delay with getting an ultrasound, but she overcame this by strongly advocating for herself.
“I went to the Breast Clinic in the Mater and was booked for a triple assessment. When I went in, they examined me and felt the lumps. Afterwards, they tried to send me home with an appointment for an ultrasound, because they didn’t have any ultrasound appointments that day."
“It was only because I pushed back about this, because it would’ve been hard for me to go back for a second appointment as I’d have to organise childcare, they managed to squeeze me in. But they were going to send me home.”
“I actually thought they were joking, that they were winding me up when they told me I had breast cancer. I remember saying, ‘I can’t have cancer."
On the same day as the ultrasound, Angela had a biopsy. She returned to the Breast Clinic two weeks later, and they confirmed her diagnosis.
“They told me I had triple positive breast cancer, and both lumps were cancerous,” she says. “They sent me for another ultrasound that day and found a third lump in my breast and suspicious lymph nodes. So, I had a mammogram, and they all came back positive.”
“I actually thought they were joking, that they were winding me up when they told me I had breast cancer. I remember saying, ‘I can’t have cancer, I have two small babies at home’. When I realised they weren’t messing with me, I crumbled. My first thoughts were: how bad is this, am I going to die, and how did this happen?”
Angela’s first course of treatment was chemotherapy. She was initially told her chemotherapy would be delayed, until her oncologist intervened.
“I was told when I was diagnosed that I couldn’t start chemo for six weeks, and when I questioned why I would have to wait that long, they said they didn’t have the staff. When I heard that I would have to wait six weeks to start chemo, I almost burst into tears. “It made me really angry and upset but, thankfully, my oncologist and his team where able to accommodate me and I started chemo within three weeks of my diagnosis instead.”
Since then, Angela has undergone radiotherapy, a mastectomy and reconstruction surgery. She was also put on hormone blockers and received immunotherapy. During this time, she found the Irish Cancer Society’s services to be a valuable source of advice and support.
"My counsellor is an oncology nurse who also trained as a psychotherapist. She has given me a lot of insight into things, and I find her very helpful.”
“I called the Irish Cancer Society’s Support Line before and I spoke to a nurse, and she was just brilliant,” says Angela. “I called with some questions about my hormone blockers, and she gave me such good information. She informed me in a way that I hadn’t been informed by the doctors before, she was just really human about it. In oncology, the nurses are extremely busy and maybe they wouldn’t have had the time to go through a lot of the stuff with me the way she did.
“I also use the Irish Cancer Society’s counselling service, and my counsellor is an oncology nurse who also trained as a psychotherapist. She has given me a lot of insight into things, and I find her very helpful.”
Angela recently transitioned out of active treatment and into preventative treatment. Reflecting on her experience, Angela believes there should be more awareness of breast cancer both during and after pregnancy, and that staffing levels in Breast Clinics must be increased.
“The Breast Clinic is out the door, it’s like a conveyor belt and they’re completely overwhelmed. The oncology nurses are really helpful, but I could see how overwhelmed and understaffed they were. I’m extremely grateful for the treatment I got and the way my treatments were handled, but I can see the staff are overworked and it’s not right.”
“Use your voice if you feel something is wrong. Be an advocate for yourself and listen to your body.”
She adds: “One of the big things that I’m really passionate about is raising more awareness of breast cancer during pregnancy and post-partum,” she says. “When you’re in the maternity hospital, you get information about things like pregnancy, breastfeeding and babies. I don’t remember there ever being leaflets or signs about breast cancer during or after pregnancy.”
As for advice for anyone else who might have a concern about a lump, Angela says it’s important for people to advocate for themselves and make their voices heard.
“Use your voice if you feel something is wrong. Be an advocate for yourself and listen to your body.”
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