Care For Your Pair - Marguerite's story
'I went straight to the doctors on Monday morning. I initially wasn’t going to go, but of course I’m glad I did now.'
Marguerite Sloane from Limerick was initially hesitant to go to her doctor after finding an “absolutely tiny” lump on her breast, but has been very glad ever since that she did.
“I went on a diet in October last year and when I lost some weight I found a lump on my breast on the Sunday night. It was two weeks after my 50th birthday, and I went straight to the doctors on Monday morning. I initially wasn’t going to go because it was absolutely tiny, but of course I’m glad I did now,” recalls the Doola local.
Things moved quickly from there for Marguerite, whose GP referred her for further tests which confirmed a diagnosis of breast cancer the following month. Within three months of first noticing the worrying sign, she found herself in surgery:
“I couldn’t get over how well I was treated and how good I was looked after in Limerick Hospital even during Covid, but the only thing was I was on my own when I was told I had breast cancer, I was on my own going down for surgery and I was on my own when I woke up, there was nobody allowed in with me.
“That was the hardest part of it all, being alone."
It was followed by chemotherapy which began two months later, and by the summer of 2021 Marguerite was finished her final course of treatment with radiotherapy.
A cancer diagnosis couldn’t put a stop to her charitable spirit with Marguerite partaking in the Great Limerick Run after her third chemotherapy session. She completed the Irish Cancer Society’s Marathon in a Month challenge in July, and is now looking forward to getting back out fundraising for the Society.
“For years I sold the daffodils; I’d take the day off work, go out on the street and it would be great craic! I got a box of daffodils sent off to where I was working this year and they sold them all at the counter for me, even with me out of work.
“I can’t wait to get back out on the street selling them because the craic is great and the people are so generous to the Irish Cancer Society who are brilliant, and the services they provide are just great.”
For others who find themselves going through the same journey as her, Marguerite has some simple words of wisdom:
"My advice to other people in my position would be to get out, get a bit of fresh air, and talk to others because you have to get it off your chest. You can’t just bottle it up.”
Learn more about breast health and about how you can support breast cancer patients this October.
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