A LOCAL breast cancer survivor has spoken out about her diagnosis for the first time, claiming that the screening service in Enniskillen saved her life, and saying how she feels strongly that it needs to be reinstated.

Marian Mitchell, from Trory, was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer in May, 2016, after attending her appointment at the mobile breast screening unit based at the Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen.

“I always attended the breast screening appointments. I missed one year and, to cut a long story short, my partner and my daughter convinced me to go to the last appointment that diagnosed the breast cancer,” said Marian.

She explained how on going to her appointment, she had no obvious signs of breast cancer: “No lumps, bumps; nothing visible.”

Diagnosed

However, from the breast screening, Marian was diagnosed with a grade three cancerous lump, which she described as “pretty invasive”.

Following her diagnosis, Marian was sent to Altnagelvin Area Hospital within a few days and operated on within the week.

“I firmly believe that if I hadn’t gone, I definitely wouldn’t be talking to you now,” Marian told The Impartial Reporter, highlighting the importance of the breast screening service in Enniskillen.

In July, the Western Health and Social Care Trust announced that the mobile breast screening unit would not be returning to its Enniskillen location at the Lakeland Forum this year, and said people who had appointments cancelled for Enniskillen would be called to Omagh or Altnagelvin.

“This year in March, just before the lockdown, I was due to go to Enniskillen again, but of course it was closed so I ended up having to go to Altnagelvin,” said Marian.

She continued: “You’re driving an hour and a half, spending approximately 15 minutes in the breast unit, and then another hour and a half back. Obviously, they’re brilliant in Altnagelvin, but it’s a long trek – it’s just unwarranted, really.

“I feel strongly about [the unit] being closed. Even to get to Omagh, if you don’t have your own transport, the bus service to Omagh isn’t great. I think it’s ridiculous, when we had a really good service locally,” she added.

Marian noted that if the appointment in which she was then diagnosed with breast cancer had at the time been in Omagh or Altnagelvin, she may not have gone.

“I probably wouldn’t have gone, because I hadn’t gone to the previous one that was in Enniskillen. You become complacent after so many breast screenings, and you think they’re all clear.

“You have a tendency to relax about it, but obviously I was very glad I did go to that one,” said Marian, adding that if she had not attended the appointment, the chances are her cancer may have metastasized and gone into her lymph nodes.

“It’s really not something I care to think about if I had not gone to it,” she said.

Now more than four years since her initial diagnosis, Marian revealed that her prognosis is now good.

She said: “My screenings have been clear, since. They do them twice a year initially, and then after three years, it goes down to once a year. I would never dream of not going to a breast screening now.

“I sincerely hope people will attend their appointments, whether they be in Omagh, Altnagelvin or, hopefully, Enniskillen,” she told this newspaper.