EACH YEAR nearly 60,000 people in the UK face the ordeal of being diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s the most common form of cancer in Britain and affects one in eight women while 350 men are diagnosed each year.

Breast cancer is not a single disease – there are several types which affect people in different ways and grow at varying rates. And there are a number of stages depending on how early the cancer has been found. This means that each person experiences their illness differently.

Although earlier detection, increased knowledge and understanding of breast cancer and better treatments mean survival rates following diagnosis and treatment are improving, cancer still strikes fear into the hearts of many.

Worcestershire’s new breast unit opened four months ago providing a dedicated building where patients can see specialist NHS staff, be examined, receive a diagnosis and, if found to have breast cancer, hear about their treatment options.

Alongside this the Breast Cancer Haven charity is providing a range of complementary therapies to support the patients’ recovery – helping them deal with the side effects of treatment and navigate through really difficult times.

Fiona Charny, chair of the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity, which is raising funds for the Breast Cancer Haven treatments at Worcester, said there have been very positive comments from those who have used it so far.

“It is on a small scale at the moment but we will build it up and develop it. Every patient is being offered the opportunity of using it and, although not everyone takes it up, they can always come back at a later stage and have the therapies.

“All the feedback we have had is good and the staff are lovely and the ambience is fine. It is free at the point of delivery and the important thing is for us to keep fundraising because the funds raised here pay for the therapies.”

She stressed that they use trained professionals who are paid the going rate and have to cover their costs even when patients are forced to cancel appointments at short notice due to ill health.

“Patients might have radiotherapy on Monday, feel fine on Tuesday and feel terrible on Wednesday and have to ring up and cancel their Haven therapy because they are not well on the day.”

She added that is it important to keep organising fundraising events because they hope to increase the service in the future. The charity currently aims to raise £150,000 a year to pay for the therapies.

“We would like to think that next year things will get bigger. We are just testing the water at the moment and we would like to have therapy available two days a week next year and then three days a week.”

• There is a fundraising Tea, Coffee and Cake morning (including a tombola and table top sale) in aid of the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity on Sunday July 3 from 10.30am at 63 Dilmore Avenue, Fernhill Heath, WR3 7XA. It is being organised by mother and daughter June Wilcox and Kate Butler, who are both breast cancer survivors. All are welcome.

• For help and information about organising fundraising events for Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven telephone the charity’s fundraising manager Lexi Evans on 01905 733786 or e-mail her at alexandra.evans3@nhs.net

Hannah Daws, Haven’s fundraising and communications director, said: "We are pleased with how the pilot service at Worcester is going so far. We saw 24 new breast cancer patients in the first two months and the most popular therapy accessed so far is acupuncture which can help relieve a number of side-effects from breast cancer treatment.

"Working in collaboration with the hospital and the University of Worcester, we will be carrying out a full evaluation of the pilot service. This will look at how effective we have been in helping people with breast cancer but also examining why some hospital patients haven't been accessing the service.

“We can offer Worcester service users an initial assessment with a Breast Cancer Haven nurse; counselling; acupuncture; hypnotherapy and aromatherapy massage/reflexology.

“Additional support, including nutrition and other supportive therapies, can be accessed from our Breast Cancer Haven in Hereford.”

Three breast cancer patients from Worcestershire, who used the Haven centre in Hereford because the Worcester facility had not been built, told the Worcester News how its services helped them and the difference it would have made if there had been one closer to home.

Jackie McLean’s story

Jackie McLean, from Droitwich, discovered she had stage three breast cancer in 2012 and it came as a massive shock.

She said: “It was a big shock when I was told I had breast cancer. I did not think it would be anything. My immediate reaction was to say ‘Am I going to die?’

“Even talking about it now makes me feel sick. That became the reason I had to go and see someone at the Haven.”

Jackie, now 65, had a full mastectomy at Worcestershire Royal Hospital followed by a silicon implant breast reconstruction.

“I just wanted to get rid of it – breast off, cancer out, lymph nodes free. I had the reconstruction and even within days of the surgery, you would never have known.

“I had to have chemo afterwards - that was the worst part. The surgery bothered me, but I was more pleased everything was gone as far as they could tell.

“The chemo upset me terribly - physically and emotionally. I had great support from the NHS, my family and my church but I hated the chemo because it was poison and making me feel really ill. I used to feel sick before I left for the hospital. It was anxiety and fear and knowing I would feel dreadful. It was really horrible.”

Jackie then had Herceptin – a drug used to reduce the risk of the cancer reoccurring - at home.

“What I did not do was cope with the shock. I was referred to the Haven in Hereford a year after my diagnosis and when I went there, I immediately had this sense of feeling safe.”

She said however much her family and friends supported her, she needed to talk to someone independent. “I chose to do counselling and hypnotherapy first. The whole ambiance of the place was wonderful.

“The counselling was exceptionally helpful. The whole thing about Haven and what they offer is to help you help yourself. It is stress free and you feel at peace. The staff encourage you to say what you really think and they give you the OK to express what you are feeling at the time.”

Jackie, whose husband drove her to Hereford for the sessions, continued to use Haven’s services – paying for herself after she had used her 10 free sessions. “I continued with the counselling for some time and it was excellent and the counsellor suggested I did a mindfulness course and that was really helpful. I went more than 20 times and it was worth it.”

She also did the hypnotherapy, which she found helpful too and said she might have done another course had the centre been closer to home.

“I could not have driven myself there. The fact that there is something in Worcester is great. That is what I would have liked - somewhere nice to go that was not a hospital.

“It is different from the medical treatment you get. I wish I had known about it earlier because I think I would have coped with the whole experience better.

“We have the hospital and the Haven and women in Worcestershire should have a much better experience now. I do not know how I would have coped without it. I am 100 per cent convinced I would not have got over it as well without the Haven.”

But if her experiences have taught her one thing it is that cancer is not a death sentence, said Jackie.

Rachel Priestley’s story

Rachel Priestley, aged 34, from Crowle says she is feeling good now and is back to enjoying riding her horse, as well as working part-time, being a wife and a mum to an energetic four-year-old son.

But it was very different two years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Three days after it was confirmed she had surgery in Spires South Bank Hospital, Worcester, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which made her very sick.

Rachel was told about Haven in Hereford and was eager to try the acupuncture, which she heard could help with the sickness from chemotherapy.

She said: “Because of the distance, I was not up for driving to Hereford so I used Haven for nutritional advice which I could get over the telephone.

“It is quite a drive over there and I did not feel focused enough to be able to drive those distances. I was having to juggle family, my son and husband.

“I was desperate to try the acupuncture. I had heard it was particularly good for the side effects of chemotherapy. I was very sick with the chemo.

“I had to weigh it up and it did not stack up in favour of me doing it in Hereford. If I could have had it in Worcester I would have been there like a shot. It would have been so much better for me if it had been in Worcester.”

However Rachel was able to get vital nutritional advice from Haven over the phone. “Throughout the treatment, I was very aware I should be careful about having too much dairy. But some people were saying eat what your body tells you to eat. I am vegetarian and dairy was one of the key sources of food in my diet.

“I was not enjoying food but I wanted to give my body the best chance. I did not know what was the best thing to do. I spoke to the Haven nutritionist and she was really helpful and gave me lots of ideas and I found it really valuable.

“It was about finding things that gave you a steady flow of energy throughout the day. It was fantastic that they offered that.

“It gave me the best chance of keeping my body in the best shape. If I had not had that advice, I would have struggled to get through the chemo. I am feeling good again now.”

Gill Evans story

Gill Evans, aged 53, from Knightwick, was visiting her sister when she noticed some puckering of the skin on her breast and she instinctively knew what it was.

She said: “I had no discomfort but I just knew. I thought ‘Whatever is going to come along I need to get on with it’.” It was diagnosed as stage three breast cancer.

She said: “I was pretty stoic. I went into the usual mode of protecting other people. I was saying I was fine.”

Gill went to Kidderminster General Hospital and Treatment Centre for surgery as a day patient and tried to get back to ‘normal’ activities as quickly as possible – popping to the pub in Bromyard to see friends that evening.

When the doctors contacted her to tell her what they found, she discovered they had not removed all the cancer and she had to return a month later for a second operation when they removed her lymph nodes.

She then had six months of chemotherapy at Hereford Hospital, where she heard about the Haven centre, followed by radiotherapy and finished her treatment a year after diagnosis.

“The Haven was very much just about you. You were not just a patient. You walk through that door and you are into another world. It is calm. You are so used to having sterile medical treatment but the Haven is about you and comfort - and this blanket wraps around you,” she said.

“You have a general consultation and they ask what do you feel you need and what are the most problematic symptoms.” Gill chose massage to help her relax, counselling, acupuncture and also a nutritional course.

She didn’t have sickness with the chemotherapy but the acupuncture was for hot flushes as her treatment advanced the menopause. “Suddenly the hormones have been switched and acupuncture was recommended for that.

“I had counselling. I needed that because having breast cancer had really changed me and I was struggling. I realised it was about time I put myself first.

“When you talk to someone at the Haven you can be frank with one another. It is about you and how you are dealing with it. They know all about the implications of breast cancer and the things to concentrate on. It is also relieving the pressure on other areas of the health service.

“The medical care was marvellous but the Haven made a big difference to me. I was talking to people who knew specifically about the condition. It was treatment of a different kind. I did a nutritional course and it was very much about looking after yourself first.

“The nutritional tips were amazing. You get the most revolting taste after chemo and if you have fresh pineapple, it is marvellous.”

Gill has visited the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven and said she was very impressed. She added that some people struggle when their cancer treatment stops as they don’t know what to do. “If you have any concerns you can go in to the Haven. I can still go back in and do their nutritional courses. You just walk in and you feel hugged.”