Lancaster charity officer shares breast cancer experience to raise awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a Lancaster charity officer is using her lived experience of the condition to help spread the word about the support available to women across north Lancashire.
Sarah Drake.Sarah Drake.
Sarah Drake.

Sarah Drake is the Engagement Officer at CancerCare and seven years ago she received a diagnosis of breast cancer which turned her world upside down.

She said: "The words ‘you have cancer’ are now forever etched on my brain. At the time, I tried to pack them away in a box but they kept getting out and it really affected my mental health. I came to CancerCare after a double mastectomy and six rounds of chemotherapy and was referred for counselling.

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“A cancer diagnosis doesn't just affect people physically but can also have a huge impact on their mental well-being. Thanks to the gentle sessions of one-on-one talking and the patience, care and skill of my councillor, I was able to box up the words ‘you have cancer’, and all the feelings that went with them, and close the lid.

Sarah Drake with her family.Sarah Drake with her family.
Sarah Drake with her family.

“CancerCare gave me the tools to help manage my mental health while the NHS dealt with my physical symptoms,” she added.

It’s now Sarah’s job to help spread the word about how CancerCare can provide free professional counselling and therapy for women in situations like the one in which she found herself.

For more information go online here