One of Manchester City Council’s leading political figures is sharing her own experience of breast cancer in a bid to encourage more awareness of the disease.
Cllr Suzanne Richards’ message comes as the city prepares to welcome the ‘BooBee bus’ staffed by women who all have experience of breast cancer.
Suzanne, who is the council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, has had breast cancer twice and was only 42 when she got her first diagnosis:
She said: “People always think that breast cancer is something that hits you later in life - but that wasn’t the case for me. I was 42 when I started having chemotherapy. Then, a year later I found it had spread to my left side and I went through the whole cycle of treatment all over again.”
Treatment was gruelling but reassuring. And, when it stopped, Suzanne found this was one of the hardest times to deal with.
“I found I had constant anxiety post treatment,” she said. “When you are in the hospital system you are able to ask questions and get answers. Then when treatment ends, it feels like your safety net is ripped away, you are on your own, managing the long term impacts of your treatment and the risk or re-occurrence.”
This is one of the reasons that Suzanne is glad to welcome the BooBee bus to Manchester - because it will give women a chance to talk and support one another, while giving crucial messages around awareness and early treatment.
“I can’t stress enough how important that friendship is between women - and how we can help one another by setting fear and stigma aside. Information and talking are all key components to staying well.”
And for Suzanne, her experiences have also had a positive effect in some unexpected ways.
“Before all this happened, I used to be very measured and take a long time to think about decisions. But now I make the most of opportunities and seize the moment a lot more. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I took on my Executive member role. There’s no time like the present.”
The BooBee bus will be visiting the following locations this month:-
Monday 14 - B Works 48-50 Market Street, Manchester, M1 1PW
Tuesday 15 - Manchester Airport Group
Monday 21 - Friday 25 - Network Rail, Piccadilly Train Station Approach
Tuesday 29 - Egencia, at Piccadilly Gardens
Visit boobee.co.uk for more details.
