Andrea's Fight

We are raising money to support Andrea Devine, her partner Jay and their 4-year-old daughter Holly.

Andrea is a 32-year-old Dublin mother who has defiantly fought cancer for the last 3 years. 

Read her story, in her own words. 

"My Cancer Story

Where do I begin to tell my story?! After I had my beautiful daughter Holly I discovered a lump in my right breast. Like a lot of people, I brushed it off and didn't go to get it checked out for a long time. March of 2017 came along and I finally decided this lump isn't going away - I better get it checked to ease my mind. After going to see the GP she explained to me and then reassured me she thought it was just a cyst and nothing to be worried about, but anyway she would fill in a form to get it checked in the breast clinic at St. James' Hospital. As at the time I was only 29 years old there was a waiting time of approximately 3 months to be seen. So, the 19th of May came along, I had my 30th birthday party unknowingly what was coming my way.

I then got an appointment for the 13th of June 2017, on that day I was given the triple check - ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy and then told to come back in a week for my results. She suggested it may be a good idea to bring someone with me on the day of the results. The 20th of June came along and myself and my boyfriend Jay went into St. James' Hospital to hear my results. Unfortunately, I was told the devastating news... My lump was in fact cancer. My complete thought process went mental. I cried, I asked questions regarding my daughter - who at the time was only 18 months old, my hair falling out, etc.

While awaiting my appointment for the breast clinic, I turned 30 years old on the 19th of May celebrating my 30th birthday party with family and friends.

July 2017 came along and it was time to start treatment. 5 months of chemotherapy until Nov 2017 and some lymph nodes taken from my armpit in December 2017 to check for any spread of the disease which thankfully came back clear.

The new year came and I made the decision to have both my breasts removed as a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction in the hope that my life could be prolonged and I got to see my beautiful daughter grow up. I had gotten a test done and it revealed that I have the BRCA2 gene which would make me have a much higher chance of cancer coming back. My treatment didn't end there, I received 1 year long injections of a drug called Herceptin, this ‘magic drug’ which was extra protection for the type of Breast Cancer I had. Eventually, that finished up in Sept 2018. It was a really horrible bittersweet time for me as my own Dad, who had been battling cancer, lost his battle and unfortunately passed away the same week I finished my treatment. I never really got to grieve for him and maybe even still to this day still haven’t. He was and always will be my best friend, my partner in crime, and the thorn in my side who I miss every single day, we got along so so well and we’d have the best laugh together.

2019 came along and I thought to myself "now this is my time to get my life back on track, my health back on track, and enjoy every day with my daughter". Until March 2019, I began to have daily headaches that seemed to get worse, I had these headaches for a month but had been to see my GP who put it down to maybe stress or migraines, so I was given painkillers to ease the pain. However, the pain didn’t go, if anything they were getting worse. My GP gave me a letter and told me to head into A&E in St. James' Hospital to be looked at. I went on my own on the 4th of April 2019 not knowing what was lying ahead. I spent hours in A&E where they gave me a CT brain scan. I was called into a room by 3 doctors and told the devastating news that they could see something in the scan at the back left-hand side of my brain and I needed to stay in hospital to be put straight onto steroids to relieve the pressure and fluid surrounding the tumour which was the cause of the headaches. Following on, I got more tests and an MRI to find out exactly what was going on. My brain tumour was ‘Secondary’ meaning it was stage 4 - no cure. It was from my breast cancer, where they reckoned a tiny particle must have travelled through my bloodstream and up to my brain. I stayed a couple of days in St. James' and then got transferred over to the care of Beaumont Hospital, as surgery was my only option. On the 9th of April, I received my brain surgery with great success. Then in May 2019, as a precaution, I got 3 days of intensive stereotactic radiation to the area to make sure everything was gone. As I had been told I had brain metastases, which meant I could never be cured, I needed MRIs on my brain every 3 months to keep on top of things and look for any recurring evidence of brain tumours. A routine scan came along in Dec 2019, and I got my news in Jan 2020 that, yet again, a new tumour was evident in the same cerebellum area. This area of your brain controls balance and coordination. Anyway, in Feb 2020 I received 5 more days of very high dose stereotactic radiation that got rid of that one too. As I had breast cancer and now the 2 tumours being secondary, my oncologist in St. James' wanted to start me on oral chemotherapy treatment, but this was to be a “preventative” treatment in the hopes it will prevent me from getting more brain tumours. It was due to start in March 2020, but COVID-19 came along and my treatment was deferred for 6 weeks. I was scared of having to wait and not receive my treatment when it was supposed to be. On the 1st of May, the day arrived where I was allowed to start my treatment - 2 different chemo tablets, 11 tablets in total per day. Another routine MRI scan came along in June 2020 and low and behold - my now 3rd tumour to be discovered. Can all this be actually real?? Can this be actually happening to me again?? The questions in my head went over and over again. My oncologist said they would scan me again in July, as we have not given the chemo enough time to do its job, or to hopefully do its job.

July came and a bit of good news came my way - they said the tumour was stable. But, as August came along I felt my eyes not feeling as they normally would. Now, I initially assumed this was because of months of treatments and lots and lots of chemo tablets were in my system it was having an effect of tiredness, etc. If I woke from a night's sleep or a nap I would feel my eyes being blurry and get double vision for about 45 minutes or so. As time went on, my eyes became constantly blurry with double vision. Also in the summertime, or before, I felt like my swallowing just wasn’t right and my voice was getting hoarse, which got worst over time with daily headaches and pain in my left eye.

Right at this moment, I have been admitted to St. James' Hospital since the 19th of October. I got a CT brain scan which shows my formerly-stable tumour has gotten bigger on the back left side, and a new tiny one on the right back side, and then 3 tiny spots on my brain stem which are the cause of my eye problems, my swallowing, and my voice. The plan is to start whole-head radiation on Wednesday the 28th of Oct daily for 2.5 weeks. It won't get rid of the tumours completely, but please God, stabilise for as long as possible and I may go back to chemotherapy treatment once they see how I cope with the radiation treatment and how well that works. Because my voice is so hoarse, too, I will need to get a small procedure done on my vocal cord, a CT scan on my neck and I’ve been having pain in my hip for about 12 days now where the pain is travelling down my leg for the last few days, so will need an MRI scan on my spine to make sure nothing is there and everything is checked.

My overall outcome doesn't sound too good. I've been told to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. It could happen suddenly, it could happen in months, even a year but it’s not going to be long.

I have to get things in place and things, and any wishes I've wanted to do for my 4-year-old daughter Holly. I won't be able to drive again. And this treatment is going to be very very tough on me.

Thank you for reading my story.

Lots of love,

Andrea
xxx"