Many people think that breast cancer is only experienced by older women, but there’s a rising number of young women being diagnosed with the condition. Katie Foley (30) from Kerry is one such woman.
At 27, Katie started experiencing itchiness and sharp pain in her right breast. She also felt very run down and tired all the time. “I noticed dimpling around the nipple area. I hadn’t really clocked what it might be at the time, I thought it was all hormonal or linked to my time of the month,” Katie says.
However, the pain didn’t go away, so Katie decided to book in to see a GP. Leading up to the appointment, Katie had checked her breast herself and noticed more changes like an inverted nipple. “I pointed those out to the GP, and said I thought I had breast cancer, but because of my age, the doctor believed it was all hormonal. I was told to focus on getting more rest and reducing my stress levels.”
Katie went home without an answer. At the time, she was under a lot of stress, so she tried to put it out of her mind.
A few months passed and her symptoms were not going away. By this stage, she had become a single mother to her little girl, Grace. “There were further changes like bumps on my skin. I went to the GP for the second time. Again, it was put down to stress. I was 28, a very young candidate to have breast cancer, I was told to go home again.”
A further few months passed, and with no relief from her symptoms, Katie decided to book in a consultation with a different GP. “It was coming up to my 29th birthday.”
The new GP told Katie she needed to go straight to Cork to be examined. In September 2024, she had an ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy. “On 1 October 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was late stages and very aggressive. The doctors told me I’d have to start treatment straight away.”
Katie had to undergo IVF treatment to try and preserve her fertility. She also underwent chemotherapy, a mastectomy and radiotherapy. “Now I am on hormonal treatment. I will possibly be getting another surgery down the line.”
Katie had just opened her own business, a coffee shop, and had to close it down. “I wasn’t able to work as I was so sick.”
She also had to try and keep life as normal as possible for Grace. At the time of Katie’s diagnosis, Grace had just started school and was only four years old. “There was so much excitement, I didn’t want to ruin her experience. I also didn’t want her to feel scared.”
When Katie shaved her head during chemo, she told Grace she was getting ‘mermaid hair’ and they picked out wigs together. “She thought it was the coolest thing ever.”
During her surgeries, Katie told Grace she had a pain and the doctor would give her ‘magic medicine’ to make it better. “That seemed to be all the explanation she needed. My family were great, they would look after Grace in the evening if I needed to lie down. We had a lot of movie nights together where we could just relax.”
Her friends were also very supportive, bringing around food and taking Grace for a day out when Katie wasn’t able to. “I’m from a tight knit community and people were so good.”
One thing which really added to Katie’s stress was applying for a medical card. “I naively thought that when you get cancer, you are immediately granted a medical card. That’s not the case.”
Katie had to apply for a medical card several times before she was granted one. “I didn’t get my medical card until after my mastectomy, which really was too late. When I was going through IVF, I had to pay for my medication through the drugs payment scheme, which meant I was handing over €80 monthly. That all adds up.”
Katie says the financial burden of a cancer diagnosis can become very stressful. “The doctors say it’s important for you to avoid stress and to look after yourself during treatment. It’s ironic.
“I’d only shaved my hair after chemo and had to spend my whole evening filling out medical card forms. An oncologist’s letter should be enough. I had just lost my hair, I was violently sick every day, I couldn’t work and had a child at home to provide for. Yet I was being asked to ‘prove’ that I needed a medical card. I felt like I was on trial.”
Despite how tough cancer is, Katie managed to create something positive from it. “I started up a campaign called Coffee For Cancer, to raise funds for a couple of charities I was fond of. I raised over €40,000.”
She says the Irish Cancer Society were really helpful, and she availed of the nursing phone line to ask medical advice, and she also got counselling sessions through the charity.
“Loneliness is very common among people diagnosed with cancer. It’s a very dark illness to have, you can start thinking the worst. You also meet people at treatment who are very sick or dying, that’s hard too.”
Katie is telling her story so other young women are aware of the symptoms of breast cancer. “Don’t second guess yourself. Make sure you always get a second opinion. Nobody knows your body as well as you do.”
Her advice for people who have just received their diagnosis is to take life second by second, minute by minute and hour by hour, not day by day.
“You could have a great hour between 8-9, then be really ill for the next hour. You could just write off the day, but I didn’t do that. 11-12 could be great again. Being positive is so important.”
This Daffodil Day, the Irish Cancer Society are urging you to stand with cancer patients and survivors and to Go All In Against Cancer. They urgently need your support to continue to provide free services for cancer patients and their families, as well as life-changing cancer research. Donate today at cancer.ie/daffodilday.For more information on cancer, visit cancer.ie or ring the Irish Cancer Society’s cancer nurse support line on 1800 200 700.The Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Centres, located nationwide, offer face-to-face support from experienced cancer nurses and volunteers.
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