I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at 37 — here are the signs I noticed
Klara McDonnell, who was treated for breast cancer, says: "In many ways it's a relief when you get a treatment plan. You know then there’s a plan." Picture: Moya Nolan
Klara McDonnell was just 37 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. With no history of cancer in her direct family, the diagnosis came as a complete shock to the Carlow singer and songwriter.
“I was somebody who drank very rarely at that stage. I was a non-smoker. A vegan. I worked out quite a lot. But I never really did check my breasts. I was very ignorant about things like that. Then one day I was in the shower and I noticed the breast tissue on my left side felt a little bit more tender and was slightly swollen.”
“One of the most important things that you can do for your health is to get to know your breasts,” explains Helen Forristal, director of nursing services with the Marie Keating Foundation.
“This means getting to know how your breasts look and feel so you know what is normal for you. You can then feel more confident about noticing any unusual changes.”
Even though she didn’t feel any lumps, McDonnell decided to book an appointment at her GP to get checked: “The doctor said he could feel a lump alright and referred me to Waterford Hospital. They did further checks, and after a mammogram, ultrasound, and a biopsy, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer on December 4, 2019.”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Ireland and the number of breast cancer cases is on the increase, says Forristal.
“Every year around 3,616 female cases are diagnosed, and 753 women die from the disease in Ireland. The good news is that breast cancer, when caught early, “has a positive five year net survival rate of 88 %. This is down to increased awareness, earlier detection and new treatments that are helping more people come out the other side of a breast cancer diagnosis.”
The tests showed that McDonnell had cancer in both breasts with multiple tumours: “I could not feel any lumps at all, and I think that’s quite important to note, because I had no symptoms, really except for that tenderness.”
For the first couple of days after being diagnosed, McDonnell said she experienced “a feeling of grief”. “I genuinely believed I was going to die”.
But then she remembered her mother's brother, who had cancer. “He was an extremely positive person who laughed his way through treatment. And my mom reminded me about him. She said to me your mind is so important. And I really, really do believe that. In many ways it's a relief when you get a treatment plan. You know then there’s a plan. Eventually I got to the point where I treated chemo like a day out.”
The Carlow native started her treatment plan in February 2020, after delaying her chemo so that she could undergo fertility treatment — McDonnell “was single and childless at the time” so she had made a decision to freeze her eggs.
She then underwent five months of chemotherapy after which the tumours had reduced “to a very small size”. At that stage, she had a lumpectomy surgery, which was successful and McDonnell was declared “cancer free”. However, she did have four weeks of radiation following the surgery as a “preventative measure”.
It was at this time McDonnell got tested for the BRCA gene: “The test came back positive and in February 2021, I was told I have the BRCA 1 gene, which means I've a higher risk of breast cancer than the average person, a higher risk of ovarian cancer, and, to a lesser extent, I had a higher risk of pancreatic cancer, colon cancer and some other cancers. This was a big shock.”
McDonnell had a decision to make; she opted to have a double mastectomy and an oophorectomy, a surgery to remove her ovaries and her fallopian tubes. “I thought it would be the safest option for me. When I found out I had the BRCA gene, that made things a bit harder, mentally. I would be thinking ‘what if my cancer came back?’ ‘how would I handle that?’.
In July 2021, a year after being declared cancer free, McDonnell had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery. Two years later in October 2023 she had an oophorectomy.
As of July 2025, McDonnell was five-years cancer free. Through her TikTok channel she continues to raise awareness of breast cancer, talking about her own experience and stressing the importance of self-checks.
“A huge thing I always say to people is if you think there's something wrong in your body, go to your GP. I know there are people who say they’re scared to go to the GP in case they find out they have cancer, but the thing is, it might not be cancer. And even if it is cancer, it's not always a death sentence anymore. Early diagnosis is better. People are living a lot longer, and there's advances in technology and science every day.”
Forristal points to the numbers, which say that breast cancer accounts for 22% of all cancer survivors in Ireland: “So while we are seeing more diagnoses, we are also seeing improvements in survival rates due to more education and medical advancements.”
McDonnell, now 42, says she is still “aware of cancer” every day but she goes for regular check ups.
“As time goes on maybe that fear will fade a little bit more into the background. When I was going through treatment and when I was newly cancer free I found good support groups for people with breast cancer, and I used to search the Facebook group to find people who were five years cancer free, 10 years cancer free, and it just gave me so much hope and helped me to look forward to the future. I think you always have to look to the future.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
Celebrating 25 years of health and wellbeing
