30 for 30

Triple Negative Breast Cancer - a term I had never heard until it was the label that was placed upon me.

TNBC accounts for 10-15% of breast cancers. Unlike other breast cancers there are no targeted treatments and as such it has the poorest prognosis. It is an aggressive cancer; it grows quickly, is more likely to spread and is unfortunately more likely to come back soon after treatment ends. If it comes back, it generally returns in the brain, lungs, bones or liver at which point it’s considered treatable not curable.

TNBC is a silent killer. It favours the young, targeting many of us at a time when we are thinking about marriage and children, and when we are in the midst of building our careers.

My diagnosis turned my life upside down, forcing me to walk away from the life I’d built in Dubai overnight. I had no family history, I’m 34 (and not eligible for yearly mammograms) I was fit, healthy and had no symptoms. There was literally nothing wrong with me but by the time I was diagnosed my cancer had already spread.

However I am lucky, I was one of the 30% whose tumors responded to the chemo. My surgery removed the dead cells, and 6 weeks of daily radiation will mop up anything that may be lying around. It’s looking good, but unfortunately there’s no escaping the very real fear of recurrence and the next 5 years will be a test.

My hair may be growing back but the impact of months of dose dense chemotherapy runs deep. The trade off for life saving treatment is a raft of undesirable long term side effects and complications which I’m only just starting to navigate. I was very naive, but now I’m beginning to face the reality of my diagnosis and with that comes the realization that my recovery will be long.

No one should have to go through this, yet so many do. Please help me to change the prognosis for TNBC patients by sponsoring me as I ride 30kms a day over my 30 sessions of radiation, starting from June 10th. Your money will go to Breast Cancer Trials, a group of world-leading breast cancer doctors and researchers committed to exploring and finding better treatments for people affected by breast cancer through clinical trials research. Together we can make a difference to the lives of those diagnosed with this horrible disease.