Alice Down, a mother of three from Christchurch, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in June 2022 at 40, after discovering a lump. Checking her breasts wasn’t something she’d ever done but now that she’s been through breast cancer, Alice wants to help spread awareness about how important this is – because it can help you to detect breast cancer early and give you the best chance of survival.
It was just a regular Wednesday afternoon at work when I noticed some discomfort from my bra wire rubbing. That evening at home, I asked my husband if he could see or feel anything on my breast. When he said yes, I just groaned and thought, ‘I’m going to have to do something about this’. I wasn’t worried about it being cancer, it didn’t even cross my mind. I just assumed it would be a cyst. I still made the decision to go to the GP the next day just to get it sorted.
The following Tuesday morning I went to a private clinic for a mammogram as I didn’t want to wait possibly a month or two for a public referral. They did multiple scans and an ultrasound, putting me in the waiting room between each one. I messaged my husband to say it wasn’t going well – you just know it’s not normal to do so many tests. They could see a couple of lumps and thickening of my lymph nodes and I was booked in for a biopsy two days later, on the Thursday. We went into Queen’s Birthday long weekend and it was an agonising wait to hear back.
On Tuesday, my GP called me to confirm the two lumps found were cancerous. I knew what was coming and I’d spent the last five days preparing myself for it, but it was torturous not knowing how bad it was or how far it had spread. For the next two and a half weeks I had appointment after appointment for various tests. I’d been told all three biopsy locations had come back positive for cancer. In my head, I questioned the likelihood of it only being in those three – surely there’d be more.
The hardest thing was telling everyone. Other people had less control over this than I did, and it was exhausting trying not to upset them. And of course, all you can think about is not being there for your kids. Mine were 8, 6 and 3 at the time.
Because I had a stage 3, fast growing aggressive cancer (a type called HER 2 positive), I started on chemotherapy straight away. I had 24 weeks of it and my last dose was on 27 December, the day before my ten-year wedding anniversary. Chemo was difficult and unpleasant, but I survived it and stomached every dose, something I’m very proud of.
Alongside this, I also paid for a targeted drug called pertuzumab that isn’t funded for my type of breast cancer. We were told it would improve my outcome by 18% and even though it would cost $120,000, we couldn’t afford not to try. I was so grateful to get financial help from family – I know how lucky I am to be a mum with three kids who was able to fund this and increase my chances of survival.
I was pencilled in for surgery on 19 January, but then I came down with an infection that put me into hospital for five days. So, my mastectomy and reconstruction were postponed to 7 February. Before starting radiation, I was blindsided when my oncologist told me I’d had a “complete pathological response”, where the treatment had got rid of all the cancer. That was the best possible outcome and it meant I could stop pertuzumab after eight of the proposed 17 rounds.
Before the diagnosis, I knew I was meant to check my breasts but actually doing it was a different story. Once I’d found the lump, I never made the connection in my head that cancer could be on the radar. My best friend had found a lump a few months earlier which turned out to be a cyst, so why would mine be anything other than a cyst. She’d never checked her boobs and her scare never prompted me to check mine either – it was a missed opportunity that I regret. I’m educated, I’ve seen the awareness campaigns, but I just never thought cancer would happen to me. I’m only 40 and assumed cancer only affected older people.
Once I was diagnosed, I became really open to talking about cancer. I hated wearing a wig and would think if my bald head made people uncomfortable, maybe they would check their boobs when I didn’t check mine.
2022 was an overwhelming year and I appreciate how lucky I have been, but sometimes when going through it, I would look in the mirror and think, ‘how is this my life’. My lump was 38mm when I was diagnosed and I wonder if I’d been doing regular self-checks, would it have been found earlier which meant I could’ve avoided the worst of this and possibly stop it spreading to the lymph nodes?
This World Cancer Day (4 February), Breast Cancer Foundation NZ is reminding women about the importance of “knowing your normal” as it’s one of the best ways to protect yourself from breast cancer.
Natalie James, lead nurse at Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, says: “Knowing your normal isn’t about looking for cancer, it’s about regularly checking your breasts so you can get to know what they normally look and feel like. That way, if you find anything unusual you can get it checked by a doctor right away.
“The best way to survive breast cancer is through early detection, so we really want women to empower themselves to be breast aware – it could save your life. There’s no ‘right’ way to do this, it’s as simple as touch, look, check.”
Breast Cancer Foundation’s website has information about breast health, how to self-check and the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. Their specialist breast nurses are available to offer free advice and support on 0800 BC NURSE (O800 226 8773).
