My grief brought on breast cancer, says Telford mum Julia
Telford mother of two Julia Allinson contracted breast cancer just months after losing her husband. Today she spoke of the impact of being diagnosed – and revealed that the two events may have been linked.
Doctors believe that the shock of losing husband Geoff, who was 44 when he died of blood cancer, may have triggered her own illness.
A widow at 37, she was left to bring up twin daughters Harriet and Grace on her own.
She also had to cope with her own fight for health and the exhaustion that came with it.
Thankfully Julia, 40, is now disease free and she is determined to use her own story to help other women,
She is helping charity Breast Cancer Care reach out to people affected by the disease, offering them information and also hope that better times lay ahead.
- A change in size or shape of the breast
- A lump or thickening that feels different from the rest of the breast tissue
- Redness or a rash on the skin and/or around the nipple
- A change in skin texture such as puckering or dimpling (like orange peel)
- Discharge from the nipple without squeezing
- Your nipple becoming inverted or changing its position or shape
- A swelling in your armpit or around your collarbone
- Constant pain in your breast or your armpit
Some people think that if they have breast cancer they will have other symptoms alongside a breast change, such as feeling tired, having less energy or weight loss, but this is not the case. If you do notice a change it's important to visit your GP.
For more help and information, call Breast Cancer Care on 0808 8006000 or breastcancercare.org.uk
Julia said she was distraught when she was diagnosed and, having witnessed her husband dying, presumed the worst for herself.
She said: "I had to come to terms with the physical effects of cancer, but also the practical day to day issues like having no energy to cook and look after the girls."
Julia, speaking in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, also works with Macmillan Cancer Support, speaking in Shropshire to raise greater awareness of the charity, as well as helping improve services needed by cancer patients.
It was September 2013 when Julia's doctor told her she had breast cancer.
"I found a small pea sized lump in my right breast which is why I was referred to the breast clinic," says Julia, who lives in Admaston.
"I don't think it really registered at first what the doctors were telling me.
"It was all such a blur. Recently widowed, I was still very much getting used to life on my own with the girls and being diagnosed with cancer just threw a great big spanner in the works."
This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and Julia is hoping that her story will make people give more thought to the disease which claims 12,000 lives in the UK each year.
According to the charity Breast Cancer Care, nearly 60,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with the disease each year – equivalent to one person every 10 minutes. While men can and do suffer from breast cancer, it is overwhelmingly a female disease – one out of every eight women will suffer it at some stage in their lives.
Julia says the news totally turned her world upside down – both from an emotional and a physical point of view.
"Our world had already been turned upside down after losing Geoff," she says.
"It became really tough looking after the girls with hospital appointments and endless treatment regimes and on top of all that I was still grieving for Geoff. It changed my life and our lives as a family immeasurably.
"I felt unable to cope and totally unable to separate my cancer journey from Geoff's, and presumed I would not survive."
Geoff was 44 when he died from myelodysplasia, a rare form of cancer which affects the production of white blood cells. The manager of Patshull Hall golf course, near Bridgnorth, had only been diagnosed the previous year, and his death came like a bolt out of the blue for Julia.
"In hindsight doctors now believe the shock and stress of losing Geoff may have triggered the cancer," she says.
"There were the obvious emotional feelings to cope with as well as coming to terms with the physical effects of cancer, losing my breast and hair loss, but also the practical day to day issues like having no energy to cook and look after the girls."
Three years on, Julia is slowly getting her life back on track.
After enduring a lumpectomy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, she is now clear of the disease. While she still experiences the side-effects of the long-term drugs, she is at last starting to look forward to the future.
She works as a fundraising manager for two well known Shropshire charities – Home-Start, which provides support to parents of children, and Pandas which provides support for sufferers of pre and postnatal depression. She also enjoys life with her two girls and even finds the time for a spot of orienteering with her team recently coming third in the West Midlands Relay Championships.
Julia is also a "cancer voice" for Macmillan Cancer Support, speaking around the county to raise greater awareness of the charity, as well as providing value input about the type of services needed by cancer patients.
Throughout October she is also teaming up with Shropshire-based Purition, which specialises in healthy food and drink products, to make people aware of the importance of healthy eating.
"I've always eaten relatively healthily, making sure I get my five a day, but since my battle with cancer I'm far more careful about what I eat," she says.
"I don't eat processed foods, I buy organically and avoid anything that may have been sprayed.
"I choose not to eat dairy products because of the hormone implications and I try not to eat too much gluten or sugary foods.
"I think it's really important that we all try to eat a healthy balanced diet. It's quite frightening the amount of new research linking cancer to certain foods."
Cancer Research UK says healthier diets could help prevent one in 10 cancers. It is thought that eating fruit, vegetables and foods high in fibre can reduce the risk of cancer. And last year, the World Health Organisation said there was a link between the consumption of red meat and processed meat and several types of cancer.
To mark Breast Cancer Awareness month, Shrewsbury-based Purition is donating £1 to Breast Cancer Care for every bag it sells of its new limited edition raspberry-flavoured smoothie drink, which goes on sale later this month.
Co-founder Louise Taylor says: "We are really proud to be supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month with the launch of our new pink raspberry flavour shake.
"We are delighted to be teaming up with Julia throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She is a truly inspirational woman and we are sure her story will go a long way towards raising greater awareness of breast cancer."
Julia says the experiences of the past few years have taught her a lot, and she is determined to make the most of every day.
"Life is getting a bit easier but the cancer is still never far from my mind," she admits. "It changes you, your outlook, your view on life from a philosophical point of view but also from a practical perspective.
"Life is precious. I want to be here for as long as I can so I have to give myself the best chance of being here for many more years."