I just caught an interview that Martina gave to Sky Sports where she was talking about her BC. I admire the way she is talking about it and making women aware that they should go for mammograms, but what concerned me was the comments she made about her op and rad treatment, she said that 2 weeks after her lumpectomy she was up doing sports again and she intends to carry on running etc etc during her rad treatment.
Instead of marvelling at her determination to carry on through out her treatment I was left feeling totally inadequate and pathetic because I was so ill and have been unable to work since my operations back in November!!
Comments like that can have a less than positive effect as it may make other women feel that they should be able to ‘carry on’ as she is instead of taking care of themselves and resting as much as possible.
I think we should watch and wait. What Martina says she is going to do and what she will actually be ABLE to do - are probably not going to be the same. Rads will affect her the same as they do everyone else - she’ll be exhausted. As for playing tennis after the lumpectomy - I guess it depends which side it was but that really won’t have done her scarring any good at all.
I suspect this is her determination not to let BC rule her life and affect what she wants to do and there is nothing wrong with that attitude but I think reality will kick in, eventually. She hasn’t been there yet - we have!
hi yes i feal the same i had my op in oct and im still off work i have very bad cording and after rads feal so tired i wish i could be like her and have the energy to even do my housework let alone tennis since my rads my chest as got worse very tight and swollen and painfull i feal worse now than i do b4 my rads
Oh dear, sounds like another Trisha, she also ran all the way through chemo and to and from all her rads treatments, 5 miles a day i think she said tut , does make those of us that couldnt feel a bit inadequate to say the least, but i suppose when all said and done if they can do it, well good for them, but because they are in the public eye it can look to be trivalising these harsh treatents to the outside world when so many people struggle with such awfull side effects. Super women ? im not so sure i think it all catches up with everyone sooner or later and lets face it our bodies need rest and the time to heal without putting further pressure on ourselves.
I suspect also that she is determined to live as normaly as possible through treatment, as we all do, but the reality for most of us is very different.
Good luck to her if she can do it.
Linda
I think Vallee’s right - what she says and what she ends up doing will not be the same. I went back to work 2 weeks after I got out of hospital after my ops, but rads floored me and I have been off for nearly 3 months now. Also if she has to start taking Tamoxifen or an AI, lets see what effect that has on her energy. It is early days yet.
Without wanting to wish her a bad time, it is very annoying that people like her in the public eye can cause misconceptions even if they don’t mean to. She probably thinks she is being very encouraging to other people newly diagnosed.
I agree with how you feel…Im having chemo and then rads and working through it but still feel that I need to do more to prove myself…and others than I can…
I think each one of us copes in their own way.
However I must admit Jane Thomlinson (was that her name?) always made me feel very inadequate.
However I think you are all great
Love Maria
Good luck to Martina if she can do all that she says, but I wonder if she’s in denial & is ‘refusing to be dictated to by her body’. She also won’t have the same concerns as the rest of us, I shouldn’t imagine for example that she will have any problem with transport for her rads, or that income/benefits will be a major issue for her.This doesn’t mean of course that she won’t have her own difficulties to deal with, just that I doubt they will be of a practical nature. I personally couldn’t have done much two weeks post lumpectomy as my scar wasn’t even healed by then, & was prone to sudden haemorraging, & in fact was so stubborn to heal that my chemo was delayed by it. However, that aside, I wasn’t in much discomfort for too long, & rads was a dawdle for me, so if not for the chemo I feel I could have done a lot more. As it was I was off work for 8 months, almost to the day, & have just been back 3 weeks.However I do agree that when ladies in the public eye talk in this way, others may get the wrong impression & think we are swinging the lead. What’s the answer though ? We can’t petition all famous ladies who are well & ask them to be careful what they say if they get b.c…or can we ?
It’s a difficult one isn’t it, but I think in MN’s case, she is very physically fit anyway, so she’s got a headstart on some of us, it must have an impact on your recovery rate.
I agree though that she doesn’t have to worry about how to pay the bills (i’ve just gone onto nil pay, as I haven’t been in my current job 2 years)…and I haven’t been back to work since my op as psychologically it doesn’t feel right to me to go back until all treatment is complete.
But even hearing that some of you here are working/have worked during your treatments, makes me feel incredibily guilty/weak. So I don’t think it makes any difference what people in the public eye say, noone really knows until they have their own personal experience of it, and then everyone’s journey is ‘so’ different.
Well I wish her well on her journey and if she is up and playing sports then Hooray ! what worried me was a comment that she made about “once there is a lump its too late cancer all over the place” I’m paraphrasing cause it got me quite distressed.
I found a lump and have had surgery, chemo now waiting on rads and herceptin but I did have a wobble when I heard the interview - I guess it is just her way of expressing it but …
Hi
I watched Martina on Loose Women, and thought how good she was looking, and hoping my boss wasn’t watching!! She may still be playing tennis and doing sport but is she doing the housework, worrying about children etc etc!!!
x
Did Trisha REALLY run daily through chemo?!?!!?
Boy, I feel really inadequate now too. Some days I couldn’t find the strength to go to the toilet let alone a 5 mile run.
I was about to just agree with Divvy that it must be a lot easier for people in the public eye who don’t have jobs to hold down and do have plenty of money and flunkies/publicists/stylists/personal assistants to iron out so many of the little exhausting everyday difficulties… but then I just realised, maybe looking good, keeping fit and active, determinedly projecting a positive attitude - maybe that is their job?
And I found myself remembering the week I was off work for my second lumpectomy. It was the work christmas do that friday, and I felt like cr*p, and was going to mooch along in my jeans… but about an hour before going out, I suddenly decided to tidy myself up, put on some nice clothes, even *gasp* make up - all because I realised the last thing I wanted was for people to feel sorry for me. So I think I can understand where these famous women are coming from to some extent. If I was in the public eye all the time I would do my best to look strong and in control and undaunted. It’s a pride thing.
It’s just one more reason to relish my anonymity as I sit here in my manky cardy, fluffy slippers, no bra, and can’t remember when I last plucked my eyebrows!
I think it’s important that all possibilites are out in the open for all to see. It’s perhaps unfortunate that the media puts the spotlight on those who carry on their sports etc without showing the opposing view.
When I was facing chemo three years ago, I got a DVD from BCC about nutrition & exercise through chemo, and found it profoundly depressing as it focussed on the negative views of illness & lack of energy. I found similarly depressing stories on here too - only to be expected as people come on here for support when they are down. It made me feel that the way I needed to tackle my illness was somehow wrong.
I have taken a lot of criticism both here and from acquaintances for carrying on regardless through treatment, but for me it was the right thing to do. Exercising gave me more energy and helped me to feel in control of my life when everything else was out of control, and going to work gave me something else to concentrate on and stopped me sinking into depression. Jane Tomlinson died during my chemo, but her inspiration was really important to me. I felt if she could run a marathon on chemo, I could certainly do two or three miles.
Sometimes it isn’t a case of being ‘superwoman’ but just a strong desire to keep life ‘normal’. I didn’t tell people at work what was wrong with me because I wanted to be treated the way I was always treated. I didn’t want them to be different. I didn’t want this disease to affect my life anymore than it absolutely HAD to, so I understand the sentiments. I too have returned to work (although I’m not on chemotherapy I must admit!!) and I was exercising at the gym (gently!) and going for long walks because I was determined I wanted to stay fit. (I’ve had mastectomy and recon in Feb)
There is a lad at my school who has a particularly aggressive cancer and he is undergoing chemotherapy and will later be undergoing radiotherapy. Nontheless he is determined to sit some of his GCSE exams because he wants ‘normality’. I think this is the key. Some people - and we all react differently - will do everything within their power to keep their lives as much the same as possible.
I do agree about some of us just wanting to appear ‘normal’ and not to be defined by our BC. We had recently moved to a new village when I was diagnosed & I certainly didn’t want to be known as ‘the new woman who’s got cancer’ . We are involved in a number of community activities here but no-one knows that I recently had 9 months of cancer treatment and am still wearing a wig because my hair won’t re-grow!
It actually helped ME to cope with feeling rubbish that I didn’t have to have people asking me how I felt or sympathising with me - or saying that I looked well-or otherwise. Having a life- threatening disease and the consequent treatment does make you feel powerless - carrying on as normally as I could was my way of bringing back some control into my life. ( even though that taxotere nearly blew my cover! I am certainly no super-woman )