Katie, Belgium

In May 2024, I found a lump in my left breast and deep down I knew. I’m no stranger to cancer after loosing my Mum at a young age and having worked with cancer advocates for the past 5 years, trying to give them a stronger voice in policy making. 
Yet, in an instant, alone in a small clinic, I wasn’t prepared for their words to become my reality - aged just 42 - as I was told “we have to wait for the biopsy results but this looks like cancer to me. Someone will call you tomorrow to confirm.” What was I supposed to do while I waited for a diagnosis? What should I tell my kids… and my boss? 
The next few months were a whirlwind of appointments with a host of different experts, tests, scans and attempts to go beyond the information to really understand the results, options and specialist, medial terminology. Fortunately, I was never alone. It’s a cliche but it’s very true: this is really the community nobody wants to join. But,  the voices of others touched by cancer have been my greatest strength - through chemotherapy and navigating hair and nail loss, to preparing and recovering from surgeries and reconstruction, as well as discovering and genetic predisposition and the major psychological challenges along the way. 
Scientific progress is astounding and today’s cancer treatments are way beyond what was available to my Mum’s generation. In fact, one of the major components of my treatment plan - immunotherapy - was only authorised twenty years ago. Whilst there is still so much more that can and needs to be done, I encourage everyone to get a HPV vaccination, attend routine screening appointments and to speak up if something doesn’t seem right. I was repeatedly told that I was too young for a mammogram but had I not followed up on that lump and insisted, who knows where I’d be.
By sharing our lived experiences, we remind everyone that we’re more than medical statistics. We are people with families, hopes and dreams. We are all unique but together we continue to lay the foundations for better care for all.