Diagnosis and Treatment
Sarah had no history of cancer in her family but always checked in the shower. When she had just moved into her flat with her boyfriend, she found a lump in her routine check. She booked in to have a check believing it to be a benign cyst which is common at the age she was, 26.
She was referred to hospital to get an ultrasound to be sure, however Sarah did not think there was anything to worry about – she remembers telling her mum there was no need to come to the hospital. At the ultrasound she began to realise it could be more serious as up to 5 five doctors came into the room of her ultrasound. She recalls sitting at the hospital for hours seeing people come and go, it was then she realised it was probably something more. A biopsy was taken and in the waiting time she tried to convince herself it was nothing.
‘It is breast cancer’ they say when she returns. Sarah didn’t react with emotion, instead responded with ‘how do we treat it’. She was sure she was going to get through it. However, once she got in the car, she broke down at the thought of having to tell others.
Due to the pandemic Sarah suffered many delays with her active treatment having fertility preservation treatment, chemotherapy, medical menopause, a lumpectomy and radiotherapy over the course of 376 days. There was a wait between her diagnosis and treatment, 105 days. She started with fertility preservation treatment. The preservation treatment is what really triggered her as she began to worry about the other effects of chemotherapy. When having the egg retrieval, she had covid and so could only have local anaesthetic – she
remembers thinking ‘it will get much worse so this is okay’. Sarah waited for her surgery due to delays caused by Covid and other factors. At the time Sarah
said ‘your mind takes over’ steering you into worrying about what is ahead and if it is the right thing. However, she sees this wait as a blessing now as it ensured the treatment plan was right for her after more tests.
Where Sarah is now
Sarah found herself thinking about others more than herself and found it emotionally difficult to update others so Sarah decided to use her Instagram account @asazigo to update her friends and family on her treatment and progress.
Since then, her account had an amazing online response and started growing. She was so happy to start answering questions and help educate others, she says ‘if you don’t ask you don’t know’. The more Sarah shared the more confidence she built, at the core of everything she said she just wants to encourage people to do regular checks. She finds it encouraging that she has received messages from people to say they have found a lump and booked in an appointment with a medical professional. Sarah’s message to ‘get checked because you never know’ is being heard.
From social media Sarah has been able to interact with many others going through similar experiences. She recalls attending hospital appointments and everyone being ‘much older’. This is one of the reasons she made the account as she was able to find others in their twenties going through their treatment also. This has also really helped her as she can discuss treatments with them and get their opinion. She says they are ‘closer to home, whilst doctors know what they are talking about they haven’t been through it’.
‘If you’ve got questions just ask, I’ve had experience’, she notes how when she was newly diagnosed, she didn’t know what to think but that Oa, our founder was able to give some help. After a year she feels she can now give that support to others.
Her Tik Tok is a moving documentation of her story from emotions to medical appointments. She has accumulated over 642.8K likes, meaning she has touched and educated thousands of people – the videos are truly inspiring. It is amazing to see the community she has built and positivity she has received.
After completing her active treatment, Sarah is now on hormone treatment. Working with cancer has not been easy for Sarah and now her active treatment is over the side effects and emotional impact is not. After being cancer free Sarah said she thought ‘what now’. This is one of the reasons she recently got her gorgeous little dog Beans. She now has something different to focus on such as thoughts like ‘will it come back’. This has been brought to the surface after suggestions of changing to different medications. Sarah says she is coping okay and recently posted to say she would take some time to focus on herself and process what has happened. She says ‘you can’t spread positivity when you’re not feeling positive yourself… be kind to your mind.’
Sarah and Little Lifts
Sarah heard about the Little Lifts Box through a sponsored post. She applied through the Little Kindness Fund which she found an easy process for both her Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy Box. Both boxes arrived early into starting her course of treatments.
After Sarah’s first session of chemotherapy, she recalls she wasn’t sad but tired, as she had been asking so many questions. When she got home the Little Lifts Box was waiting at the door, she got a photo as soon as she received it to document her first day. She couldn’t believe how much was in the box! She didn’t look at any contents online to make sure it was a nice surprise to open. One of her favourite parts of the box was the leaflet explaining why the products were in there.
Sarah’s comments about her Little Lifts Box: ‘I think it’s amazing, so happy I came across it’. When describing the Little Lifts Box, she said it was ‘so trustworthy’. This was credited to the fact Oa has been through breast cancer treatment herself and so Sarah felt safe using the products carefully curated by someone with experience. She is always recommending the Box to everyone, especially at support groups. Sarah said laughing ‘I am often asked if I’m getting commission’, but no ‘I just like it’.
Sarah found every product in the Box useful. Some symptoms Sarah struggled with the most were her taste and smell, making the chilli cooking oil one of the standout products for her. She would even use it with rice so she could taste a little or at least feel the spice when she was eating. Due to the lack of taste she struggled to eat but acknowledged she had to hence why this product was so helpful. Sarah particularly struggled with the taste of chocolate and coffee changing. There were chocolates in the box that her partner had his eye on, but she was determined to keep them until after her treatment. She was able to enjoy them and a glass of champagne after treatment with her friends to celebrate!
Sarah also struggled with insomnia and so particularly liked the Spacemask. She saved it for a tough evening, it was new to her but said it helped her to relax… she now sleeps with an eye mask every night.
A symptom that didn’t start until halfway through her treatment was a sore mouth which was when she switched to the toothpaste offered in the Box, this helped alleviate her symptoms as it doesn’t include sodium lauryl sulfate which can cause a dry mouth. The ice lolly recipes Sarah also found helped with this – these came from Oa’s friend Harriet who originally designed them to help with Oa’s treatment and now they’re in our boxes!
One of the aspects Sarah was unsure about was selecting products that were safe for her skin. Sarah felt that she trusted the products in the boxes due to Oa’s experience and curation process. The products in Little Lifts Boxes are selected based on experience and medical advice. She struggled to find anything locally and didn’t really know where to start! Sarah now uses the natural products daily including the roll on and moisturiser from MooGoo.
