On Wednesday 10th November all Transition Year students attended a ‘Breast Cancer Awareness’ Talk in St. Vincent’s Hospital. The talk was given by two different speakers - one of whom concentrated on the symptoms of all kinds of cancers, (lung cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer etc); the procedures to take if cancer is suspected; statistics about various things such as cancer survivors - the list goes on.
The second speaker concentrated on breast cancer solely. She spoke about examining yourself and knowing what is normal and healthy and what may be a sign of breast cancer. She taught us all there is to know about breast cancer - common ages; common gender; what can cause it; what can prevent it; what teenagers should be watching out for and so on. We learned that we should know what is normal for our own bodies and keep an eye out for any noticeable changes. We should never push aside signs and should always be safe and get things checked, to be on the safe side. We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to feel fake, sample breasts which contain lumps so in future we know what a lump appears and feels like.
Some of the things I found most interesting included the fact that over 50% of cancer patients are cured. Both males and females can develop breast cancer. Breast cancer is most common post menopause and is not very common in teens or even into the ages of late twenties and early thirties. Some of the myths we hear about causes of cancer such as burnt toast are not true! The earlier cancer is detected the easier it is to treat and to cure. Second-hand or passive smoking is still highly dangerous and can be a cause of cancer. Some forms of cancer can be genetic. And finally, sadly babies can we born with cancer.
The two speakers were very helpful and answered all of our questions, even some ridiculous ones, and others which were hard to answer. Overall, it was a very beneficial talk and was a great opportunity for us as a TY group as it made us all more aware and gave us a greater understanding of cancer.
By Aisling O’Brien 4E
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