In May last year, just two weeks after her wedding, Bahraini Amal Jaffar was diagnosed with breast cancer! A year on, and with treatment completed, she talks not of devastation but rather an opportunity to nurture herself.
Amal is 37 years old, a veggie/vegan, yoga-teaching, non-smoker and the picture of health. And yet, she was facing triple negative breast cancer – a tumour that’s not hormone related – it’s relatively rare, only 10-20 per cent of all breast cancers, and can be aggressive.
She says: “I actually found the lump in February but it took me that long to get a diagnosis because it wasn’t easy to find information about where to go in the public sector. I had previously worked in the corporate world and always had health insurance through my employer. So, I didn’t have cover when I found the lump and the process was a bit confusing.
“Eventually I had a private ultrasound and was recommended to have a biopsy at King Hamad University Hospital. That’s what diagnosed the cancer. I was told about treatment options but, to be honest, I felt a bit rushed – up to that point, it had all been ‘take your time, it’s OK’ and I had a wedding to organise, so I was distracted, but, once the diagnosis was in, everything became much more urgent.”
A second opinion from an expert in Berlin confirmed the diagnosis and it was decided to begin chemotherapy straight away, before removing the lump, as this type of cancer often responds particularly well to drugs.
“One thing the doctor in Germany did was told me about nurses who were still working while undergoing treatment for breast cancer,” says Amal. “This was hugely comforting and I thought ‘if they can do it, I can too’.”
A lumpectomy came next followed by radiotherapy and throughout it all she was supported by her husband, family and the Bahrain Breast Cancer Support Group, whose members and organisers she cannot praise highly enough.
One aspect of the treatment Amal was not prepared for was being put into a temporary induced menopause in order to protect her ovaries and lessen the chances of infertility – the newlywed was and is keen to have children in the future.
She says: “There were hot flushes and night sweats and, of course, I had just got married and intimacy was affected. It sounds strange but I also missed menstruation, it’s always been a part of my body that I’ve been very in tune with as part of my femininity.”
Another troubling aspect was the potential hair loss through her treatment. “I used to have very big hair,” she says, with a smile. “I cut it short before the first chemo treatment. Within weeks, it had begun to fall out and I was fed up with seeing bits of hair all over the house. I went into the bathroom and pulled out the rest and then my husband came in and shaved my head!
“When we first had the diagnosis confirmed, he told me ‘we will take it one day at a time’. That meant being present, which I have practised through my yoga for the last eight years. Looking back now, I think the cancer and treatment has helped me evolve.
“The day I was diagnosed, I cried for about half an hour. Then I was reminded that life gives us challenges and tasks and that something good can come out of them. I felt like this was a task I had been given; that it would slowly help me grow and heal.
“I felt, towards the end of the chemo, that it was a chance for rebirth. Somehow, I was lighter and more in touch with my inner strength in a graceful way.
“People talk about cancer warriors, but I don’t like that aggressive way of expressing it; rather, I felt that it was just a very small part of me and I wanted to be compassionate to myself and use it as an opportunity to nurture myself rather than declaring war against my body.
“These are lessons I have taken forward; they are ingrained in me now. I find that the journey has allowed me to find confidence in my identity, stand up gracefully for my inner truth and follow my intuition.”
