CANCER WIL NOT TAKE Janielle Blenman to her grave.
Ironic words for a breast cancer survivor to say right?
Well, not so for this 30-year-old who is convinced that even though we all have to die at some point, it will be some other illness that will be responsible for her death.
For her, cancer will not be it.
Resolute and strong in her faith, she does not waver in this belief, not even during the dark days after she was diagnosed at 24 with the dreaded illness.
It was late in 2008 that doctors delivered the verbal blow to Janielle that she had triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of cancer.
She had discovered a lump in her right breast when she was bathing, admitting that with her small breasts, it wasn’t difficult to detect.
Breast self-examinations were nothing new for the young woman who admitted she always checked regularly.
Janielle did what some would do, that is to “hem and haw”, before going to the doctor.
When she finally got there, the doctor checked and because of her age, coupled with the fact that young women tend to have “lumpy breasts”, she was instructed to return in six months if the lump was still there.
She did and was sent immediately for an ultra sound. Afterwards, she was referred to a surgeon, who performed a biopsy.
The test told the grim tale of a young woman diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Breast cancer was the last thing to come to mind and certainly not at 24,” she said as she cast her mind back to that time.
A year or so before Janielle was diagnosed with breast cancer, her sister, who was 18 at the time, had called to tell her she had a dream that she had breast cancer.
“In the dream my sister said I was sitting in a wheelchair coming from the hospital and one of my breasts was already removed and I was going to remove the second one.”
Janielle recalled being a little numb when she got the news.
“When I sat in my car I started to process everything the doctor had said,” she said, explaining it was not her regular doctor who broke the news.
“When she told me and it sank in, I cried a bit, but I didn’t really break down because I tuned her out a bit because I was so convinced that it wouldn’t have been breast cancer. It was when I called my husband to tell him that’s when the floodgates were open. I had to repeat the news so in order to repeat it, I had to digest it and process it. When I was talking to him I could barely breathe, barely speak,” she recalled.
Husband Decclan didn’t take the news very well at the time, but his continued support and that of her family helped in the fight. It was also her faith as a Christian that gave her the strength she needed to stare this cancer in the face.
After that first cry was out, there were no more tears for Janielle, although she admitted that dealing with her illness wasn’t all smooth sailing.
In fact, there were some down days, especially when she stared in the mirror to see the jarring reflection of a young woman, bald, with a scar across her chest and no breasts.
Janielle watched herself go from having a full head of hair to a smooth bald head after her chemotherapy. Today, Janielle now sports dreadlocks that reach more than halfway down her back.
It was only last year that she went through reconstruction surgery after having her first mastectomy in 2009 and the second the following year.
“I knew it [removing breasts] was saving my life. I knew I could reconstruct. I knew that the loss of my breasts did not define me as a person and as a woman. I was able to cope. It was a struggle at first, especially getting dressed because you didn’t want people staring at you and you had to be careful what you wore.”
There wasn’t much room for style either, she said, explaining there were fashion limitations with the mastectomy bras.
“There are certain things you take for granted that you don’t even realise you are taking for granted as a woman; getting dressed was one,” she said.
Janielle, who still has to visit the doctor every six months, is the first to say that this experience has not only strengthened but cemented her faith.
It has also allowed her to chart a new course that she hopes will assist other survivors.
Life After Breast Cancer, which started late last year, is a campaign that Janielle is breathing life into.
“Breast cancer doesn’t put your life on pause; it changes it. You cannot do something for 23 years in my case, be diagnosed at 24 and then go back to doing the same things,” she said.
In Janielle’s case, this once “trashy eater” is now a vegetarian, who also fills up on fruit and vegetables and restricts her intake of dairy.
Her outlook on life has also changed and she is chasing dreams and determining what is important and what is not.
“When you are confronted with your own mortality, even with faith, the fact that you are diagnosed with such an illness, you are forced to think. After you go through your treatment and your doctors say you are cancer free, you cannot go back. Your life now has to change, both the psychological aspects and physical aspects,” she said.
“Because your life is different it does not have to be bad and because it has changed doesn’t mean you need to have a negative approach but you need to acknowledge that there has to be something different.”
That’s what lifeafterbreastcancer.org will be pushing.
Plans for the site include awareness activities, video logs and a Fun Fit series that would help women get active.
“I also want to hear from other women who had breast cancer, what their struggles are and what they struggled with. It is about raising awareness,” she added.
With all of Janielle’s own struggles, she is convinced all will be well.
“We all have to die but my faith is such that I know cancer will not kill me. Something else has to do it,” she said.
carolmartindale@nationnews.com
