October is breast cancer awareness month, and longtime Airdronian Lucinda Warnock shared with Discover Airdrie her journey with breast cancer and why women (and men) need to get checked.
Her journey also led to the creation of a song for individuals who may be dealing with a diagnosis or treatment. A song that helped her and she hopes will help others.
She is very passionate about talking about early diagnosis because she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma 18 months ago.
"Early detection may save your life in Alberta. One out of two Albertans in their lifetime will be diagnosed with cancer. One out of seven Albertan women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. I didn't know those statistics before having breast cancer, and once I heard them, it was unbelievable."
According to Warnock, it's important to do self-examination not just monthly or weekly but daily.
"It only takes a couple of minutes while you're getting undressed, getting ready for bed. Get to know those girls and know them well, so that if there are changes, you catch them early. At age 45 and over, you are eligible for regularly scheduled mammograms every two years. While many of us dislike that procedure and it may be uncomfortable or even somewhat painful, if you get screened regularly, you have a much higher chance of detecting breast cancer early."
She went on to share a little about her story and how she had to have further testing because of high density.
"I had a mammogram two years previously, and I had to have an ultrasound because of dense breasts. Nothing showed on the mammogram, nothing showed on the ultrasound. I was clear this time. When I went in for the mammogram, of course, dense breasts, and couldn't see a tumour, but when we did the ultrasound, guess what we found? We found a tumour that was about an inch in diameter."
While you are eligible to be checked every two years after you are 45, Warnock made sure to ensure that those under 45 are not too young to have cancer.
"Make sure you conduct your self-examinations if you find something, request imaging and be persistent in pursuing that and getting those answers because they are seeing more and more breast cancer in younger women."
She went on to share more about her experience and talk about the treatment she received for breast cancer and how a song came out of it.
"It's a tough journey. There's good that does come out of it. Of course, you connect with other women who have breast cancer, and you can form those groups where you can support each other."
Before going for chemotherapy, Warnock woke up one night with a line running through her head.
"'Got to cut you out, out of my life and get you gone. 'That kept running through my mind. Night after night, I would wake up in the wee hours and that would be running through my mind, and pretty soon there was a melody attached and I thought, okay, that's got to be a song. When I went in for my second chemotherapy treatment, a good friend of mine, who is a singer-songwriter, took me in, and we took our instruments and decided that we were gonna take advantage of the three hours rather than just sitting, we were going to work on this song."
From there she worked with another local artist who came with her to a treatment session, where they took those lyrics and created a song. The song spread in popularity with nurses and other patients wanting to hear it and now she wants to share it with others.
"While I wrote this song at first to help me be determined and focused in my treatment and getting this cancer gone, I realized that other people need that encouragement as well. So I decided that I would record my first ever song called 'Gone.'"
She dedicates the song to anybody who is currently going through any sort of cancer treatment or has just received a diagnosis. The song can be listened to below.
For those looking for resources related to diagnosis and treatment, you can go to Alberta Cancer Foundation and Dense Breasts Canada.
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