Marcia Mercier, 40, is a full-time mother to three children and is married to Anton. They live in London. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997.
“The morning after my lumpectomy operation, the breast cancer surgeon came over to my bed. ‘You’re one of the lucky ones,’ he said. They had caught the cancer early and it hadn’t spread to my lymph nodes. Still, I remember looking at him in disbelief.
Right at that moment I didnÂ’t feel lucky at all. I was 32 and had just lost the majority of my right breast; I had a two-year-old I was desperate to pick up and hold close, but couldnÂ’t; and IÂ’d just been told that my hopes of having a third baby would have to be put on hold.
Looking back, I can see now that he was right. It just took me a while to realise it. When you’re told you have cancer, you think it’s an immediate death sentence. I knew nothing about the disease. My youngest son is profoundly deaf and, at the time, couldn’t yet speak. One of the things that frightened me the most was that I would never hear him say ‘Mummy’.
New baby joy
Fortunately, they caught my cancer early and while I was having a second operation to remove possibly infected tissue around where the lump had been, I was able to have reconstruction surgery on my breast. One of the things I was most paranoid about was losing my nipple. I canÂ’t tell you the relief when I woke the next day to see not only
a proper bump where my breast had been remoulded, but also a nipple in place.
Luckily I didn’t have to have chemo or radiotherapy, but I took tamoxifen because it almost halved the chance of the cancer returning. About nine months after I stopped taking tamoxifen I discovered I was pregnant with Luke. The feeling of pure joy at this new baby and everything he signified – putting the breast cancer firmly behind me and finally realising all our hopes for the future – was just overwhelming. I even managed to breastfeed him using only one breast.
It was my 40th birthday in April and to celebrate it and to mark eight years of being clear from breast cancer, I walked the Great Wall of China with Breast Cancer Care. Standing at that last watchtower and looking back on how far I’d come – not just on the walk but also since the diagnosis – was a deeply moving moment. I felt quite blessed and luckier than I could ever imagine.”
To find out more, visit www.breastcancercare.org.uk or call 0808-8006000.
