Keep the faith (From Western Telegraph)

Keep the faith

Cynthia Higgon lives life to the full. She is highly regarded as a horse show judge and breeder and is a leading light on the point-to-point circuit.

In her professional role as tour guide, she escorts visitors around Pembrokeshire's historical Picton Castle and her remarkable talent for floral art is always in demand. Her diary is full of requests to open flower festivals, cast her expert eye over the entries at horse shows and attend functions relating to her charity work.

When I meet up with her at Picton Castle on a glorious summer afternoon she is a picture of health, but her radiant appearance is deceptive.

Cynthia has breast cancer. She is among an estimated one in nine women in the UK to develop this cruel disease.

Her diagnosis followed a routine screening at Breast Test Wales' mobile unit at Haverfordwest 18 months ago.

The news, she recalled, left her cold with shock. With no history of breast cancer in her family, she didn't consider herself to be at risk "I had been charging around like a two-year-old, there wasn't the slightest hint that there was anything wrong with me. It is an unkind disease. You don't feel ill, you are going about your everyday duties and all of a sudden you have got cancer. It's a shock that sends you cold,'' she said.

Cynthia is fortunate she kept her screening appointment which is routinely offered to women aged 50 or over. Her tumour was very deep and would have gone undetected. Early detection through breast awareness and screening can in some cases increase survival rates to as much as 90%. The position of the tumour left her with no alternative to a mastectomy.

This operation was performed at the Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli, four days after she was told that her tumour was malignant. It was an emotional time but one she bravely confronted. "Before I went into hospital I had to have it in my mind that I had a challenge on my hands to get rid of the cancer. You don't want sympathy but what you do need is understanding, friendship, love and faith. Faith is the most important.''

Her treatment didn't end with surgery. She had to endure weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Singleton Hospital, Swansea. "That was the next bombshell but I thought of it as part of the challenge of getting rid of the disease.

"There are different types of radiotherapy. The treatment I had burnt me to a frazzle. It made me very sick.''

Her treatment has been followed by monthly follow-up checks and unfortunately lumps have reappeared. These are being treated with new drugs which do have side effects.

For Cynthia, a talented vocalist, the saddest is that she will never be able to sing again. She used to sing with the Laurence Hudson String Orchestra in Cheltenham and has performed in St David's Hall, Cardiff. "My throat has suffered from taking the cancer pills, my voice gets very croaky. My oncologist has told me that I will not be able to sing again.''

A recent poll suggests that 48% of the UK public are not concerned about developing cancer although statistics shows a third of the population do. Cynthia's life had never been touched by cancer and before her diagnosis she would have been among that 48%.

She urged women of all ages to be breast aware to detect lumps at an early stage. Nine out of ten breast lumps are non-cancerous, but each one needs to be investigated.

"A lot of women are put off screening because they say the process is unpleasant but they should go because the service is there and it is free. I am a prime example of why they should go.

"Age is no barrier, when I was in hospital there were very young and very old women being treated.''

Just hours after Cynthia was given her diagnosis, a Breast Test Wales counsellor arrived at her home.

"Breast Test Wales and Prince Philip Hospital will have my full support forever,'' she vowed. "They were incredibly helpful, they told me everything. The news was broken to me at 5.30 pm and at 10 am the following day, I had a counsellor sitting in my house explaining what would happen to me and what my body would be like after the operation.''

When she had recovered from her treatment she showed her appreciation by holding a flower arranging demonstration which raised £6,500 towards the cost of a new mammogram machine and consulting room at Prince Philip Hospital.

Cynthia admits there are times when she feels very low but when that happens she focuses her mind on helping others through her voluntary work. "It's no good sitting down and feeling sorry for yourself. By thinking of other people it stops all of that.''

And her friends have thought of her too. This month she is being taken to America for three weeks by one of her many friends. She will not only tour the sights but indulge in her passion for horses. "I have been asked to judge at a horse show in Kentucky. I am looking forward to it enormously,'' she said.