He's been there. ©.
“Tired; stressed and hada.

“poor diet. Then he made a j

decision that changed his
life..forever. 9 6.0"

ow with years of»
experience as a personal’
~:fitness trainer, Clyde has

nanaged to accomplish : ’ |

‘his goals and he can help

Call today for your
bh FREE consultation.

From page 2

thought was just another cyst.

Since then, she’s been through
three surgeries, including a mastecto-
my in June.

When Diane's doctor told her about
her condition, she says it
“svuapped me dead in my
tracks. ve always breezed
through everything. When I
was in the doctor’s office, 1
thought, ‘Is this ceally hap-
pening?’ It’s like ] wasn’t in
the room.”

“It’s called = shock,
Diane,” Jean — a two-and-
a-half year surviver — inter-
ects.

Diane and Jean both put
a brave face on their illness.
They've got through their
struggle with a lot of support from
friends and family. But the trauma
they've been through is clear: each
wells up at the memory of what they’ve
experienced.

Diane’s reaction to the first anes-
thetic she was given was so bad she
threw up for sever hours. Jean worries
whether her daughter might: develop
breast cancer. “It’s a really scary time,”
she admits.

The survivor community is a close-
knit one, reaching out to those newly
diagnosed to offer support — and a lot
of friendships are formed as a result.

One of Jean’s neighbours was for-
mer District of North Vancouver coun-
cillor Gienys Deering-Robb, who lost

Martial arts “cently

her battle with breast cancer earlier this
year.

“It really hits home when you lose
someone,” says Jean. “They're getting
treatment but it’s aot fast enough and
then, boom! We don’t get there in
time.”

@ Breast cancer is the [zading cause of death among,
Canadian women age 35-54.
B Gne in nine B.C. women will be diagnosed with breast
cancer — the high
B.C. also has the highest survival rate — 93% for local-
ized breast cancer after five years.
@ Risk factors include a family history of the disease,
increased age (over 55), a high fatdiet, early menstrua-
tion and late menopause.

& Annual mammograms should be pursued after age 40.
to help with early detection. et

est incidence in the country.

Jean, who with her husband runs
Edgemone Villag: Jeweiler, had a fam-
ily history of cancer. Her grandmother
had died of breast cancer and she was
nursing her aunt in Toronto through
ovarian cancer at the same time a shad-
ow appeared in a routine mammogram.

“I wasn’t terribly focused on it,”
she reflects. “I was more focused on
my auntie — and then I got back to
Vancouver and the Lions Gaie screen-
ing clinic called to say, ‘Hey lady, why
haven’t you done this?” I was past the
six months when I was due for my next
mammogram.”

What doctors found when they got
Jean’s next set of results back was a

malignant tumour so far back in the’

ey 2
‘Wes
%

4

j

* inspiration

wag & Sagi
aging & 54."

Celebrating 30 years of bringing together Canada’s

| Speedy intervention is key

chest wall and so close to lier heart that
radiation wasn’t an option.

She had a lumpectomy during
which a quarter of her mammary tissue
and 11 lymph nodes were. also
removed, followed several months later
by a hysterectomy in which her ovaries’
were also extracted, as a pre-
ventative measure against
ovarian and uterine cancer.
She ard Diane are both now
taking Tamoxifin — a pre.
scription drug commonly.
used for | breast . cancer
patients as a fess waumatic
alternative to radiation or
chemotherapy.

The drug blocks the pro-
duction of estrogen, giving

a osimilar = effect» to.
menopause. - us
“You can imagine the hot’
flashes I bave,” says Jean. “But hey, Pm
here —- and life is that littl bit.more °
precious now. I used to be a glass is.

_ half-empry girl. Now I try harder to- -

step and smell the roses.”
‘The support of family, friends, and’.
‘mentors is “everything,” says Diane. -.
“It’s all there is,” Jean adds.
“You’ve got medicine and then you've
got to live through the reality of the
big C. People I didn’t even know had
breast cancer suddenly started writing
and faxing me, sending a little plant...
one woman said, ‘I had this 10 years
ago. You can do this.’” cee
‘Jean also credits those people who

See Keep page