This is my story

 

My name is Dominique Swart. I’m 40 and a mom of 4 beautiful children, Georgia (14), Ana Sofia (10), Thomas (4) and Matthias (1).  I’m married to Graham and we live in Sea Point.

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In Feb 2020 whilst breastfeeding my youngest, I noticed a lump in my right breast . I asked my mom and GP about it and they said not to worry, it was more than likely a blocked milk duct. I had so much breastmilk and continued to feed and I hoped it would diminish in size, but the lump stayed exactly there and it seemed to be growing. 

 

By June 2020 it was still there and I started to worry, so during lockdown in St Francis Bay, I drove to Jeffrey’s Bay to a Gynae to have it checked. She also suggested it was most likely benign but sent me for an ultrasound to be safe. A day later they called and suggested I see a breast surgeon in PE the next day for a biopsy. So I drove over an hour to PE to have the biopsy done. The surgeon didn’t look optimistic about the lump and deep inside I knew it wasn’t good news.

 

Two days later I got the call that changed my life forever. At the age of 39 I was diagnosed with IDC Triple Negative Stage 2 Breast Cancer. I had to drive to PE again the next day to have a CT scan to see if it had spread to other parts of my body.

 

I was shattered and cried all day and night. The next day we drove to PE, had the scan and luckily it was confined to the breast only. I had a single mastectomy booked for the Monday with immediate reconstruction (all without consulting an oncologist).

 

My husband called our GP in Cape Town and he suggested I zoom call the oncologist he referred us to, Irene Boeddinghaus, for advice and a second opinion.  She convinced me to return home to Cape Town  and start neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgery so we had a lump to use as something to measure the effectiveness of chemo against.

 

It made sense to me. I met with her on a zoom call the Saturday, returned to Cape Town on the Wednesday, had a port placed on Friday and started 16 rounds of chemo on the Monday at Vincent Pallotti oncology unit.

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Chemo is nothing like it is portrayed on tv. I had the 4 dreaded AC (red devil) which was not so bad. My hair fell out by the second round (my brother shaved it off for me after) and I had minimal nausea. Just exhaustion and constipation. I got to sit in a lazy boy chair and was served tea and toasted sandwiches  throughout.

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The 12 weekly Taxol that followed, started out very easy, but as time progressed, it got harder. My white blood cells tanked so I had to take Neupogen injections to stimulate white blood cell formation. I had bad headaches on Taxol and generalised body aches which were treated with Stilpayne. I got really tired. The twelve weekly sessions flew by.

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I got through all 16 rounds and was very proud of myself. My hair started to grow back on Taxol but I lost my eyebrows! Luckily I had them microbladed prior to chemo.

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Chemo is not the best, but it’s manageable. You can totally do it if you have to. I had to, I have 4 kids to live for.

 

I leaned heavily into my faith 

 

I would never have got through this process without my God with me. My relationship with Him is so much stronger and so real. I thank Him everyday for His guidance and for giving me strength, endurance and patience on this journey.

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Throughout chemo I continued to trail run and hike and do yoga. I think during the entire process there were 5 days I wasn’t able to exercise. I listened to my body, but the exercise helped me bounce back between sessions very quickly.

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On 11 Dec 2020 I had a nipple and skin sparing double mastectomy. Best decision of my life. I  chose a mastectomy over lumpectomy as my breasts were incredibly dense and fibrous which would've made it very difficult to detect any future lumps that might have arisen.

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I had a 97.2 percent response to chemo. My lump shrunk from 2.1 cm to 0.5 mm (there were only a few microscopic cells that remained) . There was no lymph node involvement, by the grace of God.

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It was as close to a complete response as one can get and I’ve been told my prognosis is the same as those who achieve complete response. As insurance I will begin 25 rounds of radiation in January 2021 and 4-6 cycles of Xeloda (chemo pill taken orally) .

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Triple negative breast cancer affects 10-15% of women diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s sneaky, aggressive, higher in grade and likes to travel (metastasize) . We caught it just in time .

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I urge all you ladies (and men) to examine your breasts tissue every two weeks. Breast tissue reacts to hormones and our hormones fluctuate all the time.

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Breast Cancer can affect anyone. I had no risk factors: I don’t drink or smoke, I have no genetic mutations like BRACA 1 or 2 etc. I’ve exercised my entire life - I was in the best shape of my life when diagnosed, training for a 111km ultra trail run. I eat mainly plant based and I breastfed all my children.  There is no breast cancer in my close family.

 

Cancer does not discriminate. Please be vigilant. Get your scans, examine yourself.

 

Early detection saves lives!

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