Helen
 |
Listen to Helen's interview |
"My first feeling was that I didn’t believe it, but since they confirmed it, I had the breast taken off and that was it, I could forget about it. The second time I was very angry that the cancer came back. And then I realized I had it, and I have to accept it. So I had to change my attitude.
"What I’ve learned from having cancer is to be more tolerant of people. To take their aches and pains more seriously – it might not be much, but it is to them, and so in that sense I think I’ve grown. Cancer hits people from all walks of life, all ages, it is completely indiscriminate. I also realized that a lot of things that I used to be very fussy about were really not important at all. The important thing was that I was alive, and I was with people that I loved. And so I think I gained a great deal.
"My advice to someone who’s just been diagnosed would be: don’t give up hope. They have more and more treatments now, and they’re working much more towards trying to control the cancer like you would arthritis, not with miracle drugs but with ordinary medication, even though you have it for life. I think there’s great hope that people can live quite a bit longer than they thought.
"I don’t think I can give any advice to others about how to live with cancer. Everyone has to come to that point by themselves, because everyone lives differently. I don’t think anyone can tell you how to react: they can be sympathetic – in the support group you can say anything and everything – and empathize with you and maybe help a little bit with suggestions. But there’s nothing you can tell someone except not to give up hope, that there is hope.
"I’m 78 years old, and I think I’ve lived a good, full life. My mother and grandmother both died in their 90s and I would love to live until then, but if it takes me tomorrow, that’s okay."