Sarah Harding and the Reality of Breast Cancer Care During Covid

For those with breast cancer the Covid-19 pandemic has affected just about every aspect of cancer care, including screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care. Only urgent symptomatic cases have been prioritised for diagnostic intervention since the national lockdown was introduced in March 2020.

Since the coronavirus crisis began, those with a breast cancer diagnosis and those who are at high risk for breast cancer have been put in a uniquely difficult and sometimes frightening position.

This was the experience of Sarah Harding. In her Autobiography, Hear Me Out, she initially put off getting medical advice when she first found lumps under her arm in December 2019.

She eventually saw a doctor who advised her to schedule an MRI scan – but then “coronavirus hit and everything either went into slow motion or stopped altogether”

She wrote: “I was aware that I needed to get this health issue sorted, but with everything that was going on, it was tough.”

She said the pain continued getting worse. “One day I woke up realising that I’d been in denial about the whole thing. Yes, there was a lockdown, yes, there was a pandemic, but it was almost as if I’d been using that as an excuse not to face up to the fact that something was very wrong.”

Much has been written about the number of people waiting to receive vital treatment for a variety of conditions including breast cancer. Wondering if they should postpone their screenings and treatments, or if it’s safe to carry on with these appointments has been a challenge. In some cases, death has been the result.

• Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in females. Only around 2.7%, or 1 in 37, of those diagnosed are expected to die from the disease.
• Breast cancer is likely to develop in 1 in 8 women over the course of their lives, and 1 in 870 men.
• Breast cancer has become a condition that is survivable but early treatment is vitally important. In a report by the BMJ in 2020 research has found that delays of up to 8-12 weeks further increases the risk of death for Breast Cancer sufferers.
• Evidence also suggests that lockdowns would lead to 1400 excess deaths in the United Kingdom, 6100 in the United States, 700 in Canada, and 500 in Australia, assuming surgery was the first treatment.

Thousands of preventable deaths from breast cancer and other cancer types may occur over the next few years, as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While visiting your GP might seem especially daunting right now, if you suspect you may have breast cancer, it’s vital that you go and get checked by a medical professional.

The Essential Guide to Breast Cancer starts with the basics. This guide looks at what breast cancer is and how it’s diagnosed, right through to support options, the treatment available and how to care for your carers. The emotional after-effects of being a survivor are also covered in detail. For further information visit: www.need2knowbooks.co.uk.

For further information and for competitions, and giveaways email: shelleyn2k@gmail.com