Surviving breast cancer is a physical and mental battle

Five years on from her diagnosis, Yvonne Joye reflects on how the mental challenges of cancer need to be acknowledged and says it takes time to move from surviving to thriving. 

AN estimated 2,600 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year — a sizeable community of women —yet when it happens to you, you can feel quite alone. Once the words “malignant tumour” are uttered that becomes the moment at which your existence is divided into life before cancer and life after cancer. Time screeches to a halt, the white noise of living stills and a veil comes down on everything that went before.

The god-awful fear that slices you raw on diagnosis day becomes a recurrent feature of life, making itself known in spurts and stabs when you least expect it. And it doesn’t go away, even if cancer does. It is a belligerent reminder that cancer is not just a physical challenge but every ounce the mental marathon too.