Official figures show that Fermanagh has one of the highest incidence of cancer in the south west.

In Fermanagh, 1,995 people have been diagnosed with cancer between 2004 and 2012. In Omagh the diagnosis rate was 1,548 while in Strabane it was 1,208 in the same period. More men (1,065) than women (930) were diagnosed in this period in the county.

Looking at incidence across Fermanagh, cancer incidence varies between electoral wards. Between 2008 and 2012, the incidence in Ballinamallard was 107 people, compared to 56 in Lisnaskea, 50 in Lisnarick, 52 in Newtownbutler, 90 in Castlecoole and 69 in Devenish.  Read moving, straight-talking interviews with cancer sufferers and survivors as they break down the taboo with their incredible stories of struggle and survival.

WHEN Enniskillen mum Anne Finnegan was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year at just 43 her first thought was of her nine year old son Eoin.

“What will happen to him if I die? That’s all I could think about… I am getting emotional just thinking about it again,” she told The Impartial Reporter.

In the few short moments that followed the loving mother pondered what life could be like for her footballing loving Eoin, a pupil at Holy Trinity Primary School.

“I was crying and all I thought about was him. Am I going to die? What is my child going to do? All these thoughts rushed through my head,” she said.

Back in November 2013, Ms. Finnegan discovered a lump on her breast while in the shower.

“I thought ‘it’s not’ because you don’t know what it feels like so I left it to one side. My dad had died the month before and there was a lot of stress. I didn’t want to think about it.

“When I did go to hospital the doctor found there was an unevenness and I was referred to Derry for a routine screening. I went back to my GP and in January and was diagnosed. I remember them saying; ‘your biopsy has come back and it’s positive’. I remember thinking; ‘positive is good, isn’t it?’. He said; ‘positive for cancer’. I can’t remember what I said after that.” A week and a half later Ms. Finnegan had surgery and the cancer was removed.

“Cancers are graded and staged and my cancer was graded one - which is supposed to be in older woman because it’s as a slow growing cancer. I had six bouts of chemotherapy and five bouts of radiotherapy and now it’s all gone.

“It is hard for a woman. I was upset when I lost my hair - it broke my heart. But you just learn to live with it and it’s a small price to pay,” she said.

Having cancer “changed my outlook on life” explained Ms. Finnegan.

“I don’t stress now as much about silly things, like work and school and getting the washing in off the line. Now I am just so grateful to be alive, to have life and to have got through cancer and got over it and hopefully never to see it again.

“I don’t know if I’m stronger because of it, but it has changed the way I think about things. I didn’t need to be pushed along but I suppose I had some strength to get me through it, yeah,” she said.

The stigma once attached to illnesses such as cancer no longer exists, believes Ms. Finnegan.

“Cancer has become so common now in Fermanagh that everybody is talking about it. It is only now because you are surrounded by people with cancer that you realise. You sit there in that hospital and you see people, and you say; ‘I know her, I know him, there’s so and so’.

“It’s amazing how common it is and how much you learn about different cancers and different treatments. When I was having my radiotherapy I was overwhelmed by the amount of older men who have prostate cancer and the amount of young people, too,” she said.

And she paid tribute to her supportive partner Vincent Bullion and her mother for their assistance during a particularly difficult year.

Thinking of others, again, Ms. Finnegan said she hoped speaking out about her experiences of cancer will encourage people, including women, to get checked out.

“You see if you don’t do anything about it, that’s suicide. You should know your own body. Even if there’s nothing major there, even if it’s a pimple, just go and get it checked out. If you don’t then you are only asking for trouble,” she said, adding: “I just hope it doesn’t happen to me again”.