There is life after breast cancer, says Sheila

SHEILA O’CONNOR opted for a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer 15 years ago.

Her surgeon had left it up to her to decide whether she wanted the entire breast removed and she was glad he did.

Sheila, a nurse and mother of three grown-up children from Naas, Co Kildare, still remembers how low she felt after being told she had breast cancer. But the chance to make up her own mind on the surgical procedure made her feel that at least she still had some control over her life. “Women should be offered a treatment option, if there is one, because it lessens the terrible sense of loss afterwards. Because I was able to tell the surgeon what I wanted and it helped me to deal with it.”