Soon, Frenchay’s breast cancer nurse approached Chris and Rachel to see if they would talk specifically to younger women who had been diagnosed with the disease. As far as breast cancer is concerned, that means anyone under 50.
Chris said: “We were told that we could use the breast clinic to meet women who wanted to talk to us about breast cancer."
Eventually Chris and Rachel were in such demand that they took the next logical move and set up their own support group called Young Women 4 Young Women.
Chris said “Mainly we get together and take our tops off to show women our reconstructive surgery. We don’t get involved in the medical side of it we can only tell them about our own experiences.”
Chris continues: “We have some people come in and they’re in tears. In the beginning they feel that they're on a helter-skelter and they can’t get off. They have to make all these choices and some people have difficulty with this. Some decide to have the mastectomy and sort out the reconstructive surgery at a later date. Whilst others, if possible, want to have the reconstruction done at the same time as the mastectomy. They can come along to our support group and share experiences. We talk about anything and everything and its not a case of ‘confess all’ its ok if you just want to sit there and listen. We now have ladies who are coming along who have made the choices about what type of surgery they would have and have come back to share their experiences to help others."
Sometimes the pair arrange for fitters from stores like Marks and Spencer to come and measure the women up for bras - something they might feel uncomfortable about in a more public environment.
Rachel said: “I personally felt when I’d gone through it that I’ d had no-one to talk to who was of a similar age. One of our first members was a young girl. When she went to her hospital appointments all of the other women were older.”
Rachel says that she gets a lot out of the sessions she and Chris now run.
“You’re meeting new people all the time and you feel that you’ve made a difference in their lives. It just gives people a chance to talk to each other. Even if you’ve got a very supportive family and friends, they don’t know what its like. Here people can share their own stories.
The support group has had more than 60 visitors over the last 2 years- some who attend regularly and some who have only come once. Most come five or six times. Rachel said: “Its different for women who are younger, who are single, who think they are never going to have another boyfriend - a feeling which disappears as soon as you meet the next one! For some, fertility is an issue because they have had chemotherapy. Sometimes they just want to know what reconstruction will look like - they always think it’s going to be 10 times worse than it really is and the techniques are so good these days. Most of all, it gives them the chance to talk to people who’ve been through it themselves.”
