Sarah Beeny's late mum Ann played a part in saving her daughter's life by taking part in early chemo trials
Her mum died of breast cancer aged just 39, when she was 10 years old, so learning she had developed the same disease was terrifying for mum-of-four Sarah Beeny.
“I phoned the GP this time,” says Sarah. “They just said, ‘Go straight to a breast cancer unit.’ At the breast cancer unit they do a mammogram, ultrasound and a biopsy all in one go. It’s amazing.” Sarah’s mum Ann died after her breast cancer spread to her brain. Graham adds, “She’s very strong. She’s a force of nature. But it’s the first time that she’s been frightened for herself. There was always that shadow of, ‘My mum died at 39.’ Her 40th birthday was a really big deal for her.”
“I didn’t want them to think, ‘Well I can’t talk to the teacher,’ or, ‘I mustn’t talk to this friend because Mum hasn’t told them.’ It’s not my secret because when you have cancer, everyone who loves you goes through cancer too. That’s what people don’t talk about.” “In fact, my son walked into the kitchen and he said, ‘God, Mum, what’s wrong? Have you got cancer or something?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I have actually.’ He says it not very often as a joke. Then he just went, ‘Are you going to die?’ and I said, ‘No, I’m not going to die.’ And he said, ‘Would you tell me if you were?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ And he went, ‘OK, cool.’"
Having her own diagnosis brought back a lot of pain from losing her mum at such a young age, and this time, Sarah felt she had to face it. “It definitely all came out. I was like, ‘Oh God, do I have to deal with all that stuff?’ I had swept it nicely under the carpet where all my s**t belongs,” she says. “Graham calls it ‘Sarah therapy’. It’s called lifting up the carpet, sweeping it under, putting it back down, pretending it’s not there.
“In many ways my mother died and she didn’t meet her grandchildren so that I can meet my grandchildren,” marvels Sarah. “You couldn’t write it. It’s like it’s not true. People will watch it and think, ‘She’s made all that up! There’s no way that could actually happen.’ I promise it’s true.”“I recognise that the thing worse for my mother than having cancer would have been if I’d had cancer,“ says Sarah. “And the thing worse for me than having cancer would be if my kids had cancer.
“I don’t think I’d have had a mastectomy as a preventative measure. I’d just have been super, super careful,” says Sarah.
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