Life After Breast Cancer: Marianne’s Story

Throughout the month of October, mio are working alongside Look Good Feel Better charity, in aid of Breast Cancer awareness. We're donating £1 for every Boob Tube sold to the charity to show just how incredible we think they are. We caught up with one of the inspiring girls who has been attending the Look Good Feel Better workshops and asked her about her breast cancer journey. Tissues at the ready!

Marianne is 33 and lives in Tunbridge wells, she was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer last November. Her treatment soon followed her diagnosis and she has since had almost 5 months of chemotherapy followed by a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Here is what she wants to tell YOU.

I don’t take my life for granted any more, I try to look after myself as much as I can and make every second count. I certainly don’t waste time any more.

It was Breast Cancer Awareness month last year when I found my lump- I remember because a ‘signs to look for’ came up in my Facebook newsfeed and prompted me to carry out my first self-examination. I was 32 at the  time and didn’t expect to find a lump.

Don’t be afraid if you notice something out of the ordinary. It might seem scary to go and get something checked out but the alternative of leaving it could be much scarier. Treatment was tough but definitely do-able and with a bit of makeup and a wig, you’d never really know what I've been through this past year.

Intense. From the moment you’re diagnosed with cancer, it’s like you’re going through a production line- there’s always an appointment to attend or your on recovery days. I found treatment ending the hardest because it’s when you have to go back out into the world on your own without the routine and with time to think.

I don’t take my life for granted any more, I try to look after myself as much as I can and make every second count. I certainly don’t waste time

Perhaps the only thing I would change is being so proud about accepting help. I didn’t really want to burden anyone. I wrote a blog about my experience which helped to focus me at times when I didn’t want to have time to think. It was a great way for friends and family to keep up to date with how I was without feeling like they were intruding.

It meant the absolute world! I went to a workshop after my fourth round of chemo when all my eyebrows and lashes were falling out and I was feeling really low in myself and about how I looked. I couldn’t believe how amazing the products were and I loved learning tips for drawing on realistic brows- I learnt skills I can still take with me long after I stop looking like a cancer patient and the demonstrators were amazing- genuine, uplifting and not at all patronising. I went in a patient, I came out a different person.