'I was sure I was going to die,' says woman who underwent mastectomy while pregnant
Alicia Lynch living with metastatic breast cancer and says it is something she never expected that she would have to deal with. Picture: Finbarr O’Rourke
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month when a light is shone on the disease which affects around 3,600 women and almost 30 men in this country each year.
Alicia Lynch knows only too well what it is like to have cancer, as having been diagnosed with it on three separate occasions, she is now living with metastatic breast cancer and says it is something she never expected that she would have to deal with.
In 2017, the mother-of-three — Annie and Matt, eight, and Alice, two — felt a lump in her left breast and was initially unconcerned as she was only 32 at the time. But, she made an appointment with her doctor just in case.
She was referred for further tests and a fortnight later was seen by a breast specialist who referred her for a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. Believing she was too young to have cancer, she was devasted when it was confirmed.
“I roared crying,” says the now-39-year-old who lives in Co Carlow. “I was thinking of the twins, who were 15 months old at the time, growing up without me — I was sure I was going to die.”
She underwent a lumpectomy and started chemotherapy, which she found gruelling. But despite feeling ‘horrendous’ throughout and losing her hair which was ‘absolutely devastating’, she got through the ordeal and subsequent scans revealed that the cancer hadn’t progressed.
Life began to improve and she hoped she could put it all behind her. Then in 2020, she discovered that she was pregnant.
“We were absolutely thrilled — over the moon,” she says. “But unfortunately a couple of weeks later, I was involved in a car crash and ended up miscarrying, which was really sad.
But the joy was short-lived as when Alicia, who is married to Paul, was seven months pregnant, she "noticed a change" in her left breast. She thought it was due to pregnancy hormones, but decided to get it checked out anyway.
“When I heard it (the cancer) was back again, I felt absolute devastation,” she says. “I would need a mastectomy and various ultrasounds but because I was heavily pregnant, I couldn’t have proper staging scans.
"I went into surgery thinking only about my baby being OK and when I woke, the first thing I did was check my tummy to see that she was still there.”
The recovery was tough, physically and emotionally: “It was a lot to get my head around,” she says.
Two weeks after the mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery, Alice was born on October 7.
Alicia subsequently underwent a series of scans and there was no evidence of cancer, so it was decided that she didn’t need further treatment. However, she would need to be monitored regularly.
Following a PET scan in 2021, with delayed results due to the cyber attack on the HSE, she received devastating news.
“I was told that the cancer had spread to the right side and it was also in my thyroid and chest wall,” she says.
“It was the worst time of my life. I wanted to know how long I would live and if I would see my babies grow up — it was awful. But, very quickly a plan was put in place and I was to have chemo along with Herceptin and Perjeta.
“I began treatment and was having scans every three months, but 10 months later was told the drugs had stopped working. I had just come to terms with having stage four breast cancer and was getting used to the treatment which was all really hard, when the rug was pulled out from under me again.
"But my oncologist said she was going to get me on the trial drug Enhertu, which targets rogue cancer cells. I have been on it now for a year.”
The new medication has worked well for Alicia, whose cancer shrunk by 60% and she is now left with a ‘small tumour’ on her lung.
The treatment is delivered by infusion and she spends a week recovering after each session, which occurs every three weeks. But she has a positive outlook and is taking each day as it comes.
Given the significant developments in drug therapies, she encourages anyone who has been diagnosed with metastatic cancer not to lose hope.
“I would advise people to allow themselves to feel the shock and the upset as it’s all part of it, but to know that new drugs are coming down the line all the time,” she says.
“Although there may come a time when this drug won’t work for me, I just believe and hope that there will be another one that will — also our cancer care is world-class and I’ve had the most amazing people working with me throughout.
“Cancer really changed me and I now have such respect for myself, my body and what I have been through. We all get so caught up with other people and things that we don’t focus on the here and now — and before cancer, I was so caught up with being the perfect mother and everything else, that I was missing out on really special moments by not being present.
“It’s so important to live in the moment — I’ve got three healthy kids, a fabulous husband and a lovely family and that’s what’s important, not the other little things.”
- This October, the Irish Cancer Society is calling on the public to host a ‘Big Pink Breakfast’ with friends, family and colleagues. Funds raised will support vital breast cancer research and services across Ireland.
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
