Breast cancer, radiotherapy, and the volunteer bus that carried me along

Undergoing cancer treatment is a difficult experience by any measure.  For Kerrywoman Marie Shannon, the voluntary bus service that brought her and other patients for radiotherapy in CUH proved to be a vital source of support

Marie Shannon, who was treated for breast cancer, at home in Killarney, Co Kerry. Picture Dan Linehan

KILLARNEY native Marie Shannon never missed a mammogram appointment. In June 2023, following a routine scan, she was called back for a follow-up appointment by BreastCheck, the national screening programme.

She wasn’t too worried, “I’d been called back a couple of times previously, when something appeared suspicious, and there was never anything there.”

She had noticed a slight unevenness in the tissue of her left breast, but wasn’t too concerned. “When I was called back by BreastCheck, I was a bit casual about it; it didn’t worry me at all, really.”

Although women of any age can get breast cancer, women aged 50 and over are at a higher risk. From the age of 50, women are invited to take part in BreastCheck up to the age of 69. Recent data from the National Screening Service (September 2025) showed that uptake remained strong at 72%, which is above the programme’s 70% target.

At her follow-up appointment, Shannon was told she was being sent for an ultrasound. “They did see suspicious masses on my left and right breast, but, again, I still wasn’t really worried. My biggest stressor, at that time, was my parking ticket running out at the hospital.”

A week later, Shannon was sent for a biopsy. The team at the BreastCheck Southern Unit, next to the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork, performed biopsies on two lumps. She was then told she had “two cancerous tumours, one in my left breast and one in my right”.

Now aged 63, she says it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how she felt when she was diagnosed. “I had this sense of being pushed away from the door, I don’t know if it was shock, but I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’ve gone into a different realm here’.”

Everything else the consultant told her that day “pushed me further and further away from my previous understanding of my own health. It felt completely surreal.”

At home, later, she remembers asking her husband, who attended the appointment with her, “Should I be feeling more upset?”

She went in to ‘dealing with it’ mode after the initial shock and immediately took in the practical details of the treatment plan and what was to happen next.

Shannon says: “We have two grown children, who were away travelling at the time: Our daughter was in Asia and our son in South America. With them away, we made the decision not to tell anyone.

“That felt hard, as well, because we were in this bubble of dealing with it on our own until the kids came home.”

As part of her treatment plan, Shannon would first undergo a lumpectomy. The location of the tumours was identified by injecting a dye into the breasts “that would direct the surgeon to where the tumours were”.

On July 18, 2023, she underwent surgery. The two tumours were removed.

Samples of the tumours were then sent for oncotyping. Michelle Lonergan, cancer awareness nurse at the Irish Cancer Society, says: “This is where a sample of breast cancer cells is examined under a microscope. It is used to give more information about the likelihood of your cancer coming back in the future.

“It can also help the medical oncologist decide whether chemotherapy may be effective for you.”

Marie Shannon, who was treated for breast cancer at her home in Killarney, Co Kerry. Picture Dan Linehan

The treatment

In September, Shannon started chemotherapy, one session every three weeks for 12 weeks. Following her chemotherapy, she had 20 sessions of radiotherapy, “which was every day for 20 days, but not on weekends, so nearly five weeks”.

The people she met along the way, the staff and other patients, made the process easier.

The CancerConnect voluntary bus service brought her and other patients to the Glandore Centre at Cork University Hospital for radiotherapy every day.

The bus service was invaluable to Shannon. “All of us going to radiotherapy formed a unique bond on that bus.

“We were all having the same experience, really, and we were able to chat about everything, or if there were days you didn’t want to speak, that was OK, too”.

Throughout her treatment, Shannon says her family and friends were a huge support. She, her husband, and two grown children — Alice, 29 and Michael, 27 — did their best to see the humour in every day.

After her chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she was declared cancer-free. For five years, she will be closely supervised, undergoing an annual mammogram and an annual appointment with her surgeon. And because her cancer was hormone receptor-driven, she is also taking hormone therapy for the next five years.

Lonergan says: “Hormone receptor positive breast cancer is a type of breast cancer in which the cancer cells have extra receptors on them, which can attach to the hormones oestrogen or progesterone. These hormones can help the cancer grow. About three out of every four breast cancers are hormone receptor positive.”

A former mental health nurse, Shannon knows the value of her emotional wellbeing, and regularly attends a cancer support group in Tralee.

During her treatment, she also took advantage of the counselling services provided by the Irish Cancer Society.

“Even with a good prognosis, like I have, cancer is very upsetting and you always have it in the back of your mind.

“Right now, I’m positive and I don’t think it’s going to come back, but, of course, you never know.”

• During breast cancer awareness month, the Irish Cancer Society is calling on the public to host a Big Pink Breakfast and make “a really big” difference. For details, see: cancer.ie