Our Story Part Two

The 8th of March 2005 signalled a change in our lives when Fiona was diagnosed with breast cancer – an unusual occurrence in a young woman. As you can imagine, it was quite a shock for us all. Luckily Fiona’s adoptive mom, Lesley, and her partner, John, were visiting from the UK which helped Fiona get through the initial terrifying shock.

Fortunately our Oncologist allowed us to take a short break in the Kruger Park before the treatment started. The Kruger Park was its usual magnificent self with a memorable sighting of two lions right next to the car one morning. They were so close we could have stroked them.

When we returned, Fiona immediately underwent the first of her six chemotherapy sessions. The strategy was to reduce the lump to a small manageable amount which could then be removed without sacrificing the whole breast. The chemotherapy was a lot different to what we expected. Fiona got very tired after about two days and would then recover to be fine until the next session a few weeks later. An interesting side effect was that her veins soon disappeared and became very rigid which made her whole arm very sore. We were also disappointed at the support from our medical aid which was more interested in saving themselves costs instead of “aiding” us. We changed to a far better scheme later.

After six sessions of chemotherapy, the lump was removed by a very skilled surgeon. He said that he got everything which was a great relief. He did an excellent job!

We then had a daily session of radiation for six weeks to kill anything that could have remained. Again it made Fiona very tired but the end of the radiation treatment meant that we had won the first battle.

Fiona was then put on a drug that impaired the effects of Oestrogen that Fiona’s cancer required to live. The thinking was that five years of no Oestrogen would result in there being no cancer. It also meant that we could have no children for five years and then there was a chance that Fiona could never bear children again.

Cancer had a great positive impact on Fiona as well. From being a person who could not bear the thought of talking to even a small audience on video, she developed into a person who gave a presentations on Cancer and our honeymoon in Vietnam to about 90 people at Sasol. She also ventured out wearing a wig in public – yes – people did stare when they picked it up. And in November we went to our Cousin Craig’s wedding in Cape Town wigless. Only later did we realise how we must have stood out.

Our relationship also reached new heights of togetherness which was fantastic.Fiona’s colleagues at SASOL were spectacular with the whole office holding a fund raising event for CANSA which involved a few staff members even shaving their heads bald. This made a great difference and was very much appreciated. There were so many other people who just got down and made a small difference. You don’t realise how much those little things count!!!

Short hair at Delheim Wine Estate.