It is not normal to be grateful for a delayed hospital appointment, but for Anna Hickey, it was extremely fortunate. <\/p>\n
Had her mammogram gone ahead as scheduled, cancer<\/a> cells would not have been detected.<\/p>\n \u201cMy routine over-50 breast scan was delayed due to Covid. So when I finally had it done in August 2023, something showed up and I was called back for another check,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n \u201cI initially thought that it was because I had fainted during the mammogram [due to low blood pressure] and they didn\u2019t get a clear picture, but then, after the second scan, I was told I needed further investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n Hickey, now aged 55, underwent a third mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy and was shocked to be diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of breast cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would not have been picked up if I\u2019d had my mammogram on the original date, and then by the time I went for another one, it would have been a very different outcome,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen they told me initially, I said that they must have made a mistake, it wasn\u2019t possible that I had cancer as I didn\u2019t have any symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n Hickey had a lymph node removed in December 2023 and a mastectomy on her right breast a few months later. <\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, the cancer hadn\u2019t spread, so I didn\u2019t need further treatment and was able to have a reconstruction at the same time. This meant that when I woke up from surgery, I wasn\u2019t faced with the loss of a breast,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the reconstruction was done using skin and blood vessels from my stomach, so recovery was very long and slow, as I had a number of infections. I also needed extensive physiotherapy because, due to the 40cm scar on my stomach, I had spent months hunched over to try and protect it, so I had to work on correcting that.\u201d<\/p>\n The IT professional and mother of two, who lives with her husband and children in Cork, is actively involved in Korean martial arts, which meant she was fit and healthy before her diagnosis.<\/p>\n \u201cI had initially thought I would only be off work for about eight weeks, but it was actually 12 months in total,\u201d says Hickey. \u201cBut although recovery took longer than I expected, I feel so lucky that the cancer was caught in time, my treatment went well and I made a full recovery.\u201d <\/p>\n