After her own diagnosis, Farhana Alam was keen to get the subject of breast cancer out in the open and make other British Asian women more breast aware.
As a Pakistani Muslim woman, talking about breasts is often considered taboo in our community as it’s such a private part of the body. After my own experience of breast cancer, I wanted to raise awareness in the British Asian community that breast cancer is a disease like any other and definitely not something to be embarrassed about.
I was diagnosed after noticing a lump while breastfeeding, just a few weeks before my 30th birthday. My little girl Noor had just turned one and I had been on maternity leave for a year from my PhD in Linguistics. The news came as a huge shock, especially as I had just resumed my studies and was still coping with having a baby.
I had been solely breastfeeding Noor and I thought the lump was just a blocked milk duct. Cancer was not even on my radar as I had always been fit and healthy throughout my life.
Seeking out support
My treatment plan started straight away and it was just scan after scan, appointment after appointment. I remember thinking: ‘I’m going to die from this’. I was even more distraught when the doctors said I had to stop feeding Noor immediately. I didn’t have any of the risk factors and I kept thinking: ‘Why me?’
I wanted to be able to talk to someone from the same faith and cultural background to help answer my questions from that perspective.
I contacted Breast Cancer Care (now Breast Cancer Now) about my diagnosis and they were a huge support in many ways. I wish I could have talked more openly to my family and friends but I didn’t feel able to in the early stages. I just felt too shy.
Getting through treatment
I had the works: six months of chemotherapy, mastectomy with breast reconstruction, radiotherapy, breast reduction, more cosmetic surgeries and ongoing medication. It feels like a never-ending process, but every time I feel low I take comfort in the fact that I’m still here breathing, and especially for Noor. I’ve also taken much solace in considering God’s greater plan for me. Side effects from treatment have been so hard and tiring, but my parents have been great, especially my mum who’s inspired me and given me so much strength.
After my treatment I became a model in the Scottish fashion show to raise awareness in the Asian community. I received a Facebook message from a woman very much like me who’d read my newspaper article about the show. It’s comforting to think that I’ve been able to help someone in the same position.
My family and friends nominated me for the Scottish Asian Women’s Awards and I won in the category Achievement Against All Odds. It was really humbling.
A new normal
The thought is always there that the cancer might come back, but for now I’m hopefully cancer free and back to ‘normal’ – whatever that ‘new normal’ may be. Being back at university now and engaging in feel-good activities helps me feel like I’m part of the world again. I’m not defined by my cancer but I am someone who’s been through tribulation yet come out the other side – stronger, wiser and, importantly for me, closer to my faith than ever before.
Information for ethnic communities
In the UK, women from ethnic minority backgrounds face different barriers when it comes to breast cancer. Visit our hub for breast cancer information and support for ethnic communities.