through the lens of a survivor.
Tips and advice
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I would first like to thank Mary Temple, my great grandmother, for allowing me to pass her story and guidance onto others. You’re amazing. I love you.
intro: A friendly and direct booklet including tips, advice and personal stories from a breast cancer survivor. Mary taught me a great deal surrounding this devestating disease and allowed me to carry out mulitple interviews to further understand the effects of cancer. Together, we want to raise awareness and overall help others who have been and are effected by cancer. 3
Mary Temple At the age of 58, Mary Temple was diagnosed with breast cancer and her life turned upside down. As you can imagine, this was extremely difficult for Mary and affected her life in many ways. From this life changing experience, she has learnt more about herself than she ever would and wants to pass her knowledge onto others. I think Mary is an inspiration and role model to all women.
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The help Fortunately there are many charities and organisations that are there to help you throughout your battle and journey with breast cancer; along side the help of doctors, nurses and of course family and friends. Within an interview carried out with myself and Mary, we spoke about two charities, called ‘Bosom buddies’ and ‘Coping with Breast Cancer’, that massively helped Mary with her time fighting cancer. Through them, Mary was introduced to various women who also had breast cancer and would arrange lunch dates
every week. On these lovely dates, they would discuss any gossip, their families and most importantly their experiences surrounding their time with cancer. Being able to speak about cancer to another cancer patient, had a big effect on Mary and both made her at ease and worried at the same night; these women understood how Mary felt, without her trying to explainwhich was really settling for Mary.
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Words of wisdom We asked Mary if there was one thing you want others to know about breast cancer and her answer was really interesting and could definitely influence and educate the younger generation. The main thing is to not be how I was, I’d never checked myself before, because I was frightened to find something. It was only through an accident that I was actually diagnosed so my big thing about that would be to check yourself every month and that you know your breasts and if you find anything that isn’t there at the time before a lump or anything then go to see the doctor because if you catch breast cancer early enough it can be cured. We asked Mary if there
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was one thing you want others to know about breast cancer and her answer was really interesting and could definitely influence and educate the younger generation. The main thing is to not be how I was, I’d never checked myself before, because I was frightened to find something. It was only through an accident that I was actually diagnosed so my big thing about that would be to check yourself every month and that you know your breasts and if you find anything that isn’t there at the time before a lump or anything then go to see the doctor because if you catch breast cancer early enough it can be cured.
Feeling your breasts It’s crazy to think a simple accident of Mary’s towel falling, after a shower saved her life. If only she hadn’t have spotted a sign of breast cancer when she did, she may not be here now. This is something I hope you will think about as a reminder to check your breasts. 47% of women in the UK do not check their breasts regularly for potential signs of breast cancer. After reading the page before, you now know that Mary’s largest tip and crucial advise is to CHECK YOUR BREASTS.
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SURVIVOR SURVIVOR SURVIVOR SURVIVOR SURVIVOR
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