Life after cancer – Kathryn’s story
When Kathryn Gendle, a 39-year-old beauty therapist
from Tamworth, began experiencing mood swings
and struggled to stop crying without any real reason,
she feared that it was a sign the breast cancer she’d
had treatment for six years earlier had returned.
“There’s always that fear that any
symptoms you have are the cancer
coming back but I didn’t want to
worry friends and family about
every little ache and pain so it was
difficult to talk about.”
“I went to see my GP who offered me anti-depressants but
I knew I needed help in managing what was happening,”
explained Kathryn. “I contacted the breast nurse and she
suggested I contact the team at St Giles. It was a real relief to
know that there was a service which could help as I had no idea
what was going on.”
In February St Giles launched a specialist cancer support service
for women living with the effects of cancer and its treatments.
Kathryn was our first patient. After she was diagnosed with
breast cancer, Kathryn had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and
radiotherapy, and still takes Tamoxifen, a hormone therapy to
prevent it recurring. Kathryn attended a series of sessions with
specialist cancer support nurse Katherine Hill and found the
service invaluable:
“Katherine was great because she really listened to what I had
to say and recognised just how much I had been through and
how that affected me. She explained that the Tamoxifen had side
effects which include menopausal symptoms and those were part
of what I was experiencing.
“People don’t always understand that even five or six years later
you can still be affected by the cancer treatment and it’s after
effects. I think they just think you are better and are recovered,
not that you could still be dealing with symptoms.
“The sessions with Katherine gave
me the time to work out what was
going to help me to feel better.”
“I started running again, which I’d done all the way through
having chemo, and it’s made me feel lots better.
“It was brilliant to have someone to talk to who had the time to
listen and because I saw Katherine over a period of time I knew I
wanted to report back and let her know how I was getting on. I’d
recommend the service to anyone. I’m so pleased it was there for
me when I needed it and it’s really made a difference.”
The service is based at our Sutton Coldfield site and is
open to women living within our catchment area with the
effects of cancer and the impact of its treatment. Visit
www.stgileshospice.com/womens-cancer-support for
further information.
Thank you to Breast Friends Sutton Coldfield and Boldmere
Bullets for their support in funding the service.
“ It was a relief to know
there was a service
which could help.”
Kathryn
01543 432031 I www.stgileshospice.com I [email protected]
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