Sandee poses next to a dragon boat during one of her group’s events.

Sandee Thompson, a 53-year-old single woman and an instructor at the College of the North Atlantic, Qatar, has survived breast cancer twice. She received her treatment recently at the National Cancer Care Centre and Research at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).  
Sandee says that she has travelled to the edge and back again, twice. At the time of her first diagnosis, she was in the middle of a huge life transition. During her second diagnosis, she was living in a foreign country and didn’t know how to navigate the medical system. Both were learning experiences for her and she has come out of them even stronger than when she went in.
Sandee’s breast cancer, and its recurrence, was discovered through routine mammograms. Both times, the radiologist noticed a small spec on the film. She was lucky that they were spotted as both times the cancer was less than 1cm in size, which could have easily been missed because of their location. In both cases, she was on the operating table within two months of her mammogram.
In 2010, she had a lumpectomy, radiation and started on tamoxifen - an anti-estrogen medication. The second surgery, last September, was a bilateral mastectomy and included new medication. She chose a bilateral mastectomy rather than a single mastectomy because she did not want any chance of the cancer returning. She also had been a 34DDD and the thought of being really lopsided was an emotional trip she did not want to take. Mostly what she felt was, “If her breasts were trying to kill her, she wanted them off... now!”
She had the bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction in September in Hamad General Hospital under the care of Senior Consultant, Dr. Salahddin A. Gehani, and his surgical team. The reconstruction process started off slowly because she experienced an infection that lasted a couple of months. However, seven months later they exchanged expanders for silicone implants.
Sandee stayed in Doha after her diagnosis because she has a large support system of friends and colleagues here. She knew she could work through whatever treatment was deemed best for her and she lives near the hospital. She said: “Staying here was the right choice for me. Catherine Marie Mckirdy, advanced clinical nurse specialist, and the nurses in Ward 8 South have all been fabulous. They are taking great care of me. Cathie is there for me at every turn and has kept a very close eye on me, especially when I had the infections.
“Cancer does not have to be the big scary elephant in the room. It needs to be talked about openly, honestly and without embarrassment. This is how we will beat breast cancer. This is how we can survive and this is how we live,” Sandee stressed.
She added: “My advice to other survivors and newly diagnosed people is to live their life as largely as possible, ask lots of questions and do not be afraid. This is possible.”
In an attempt to build an active breast cancer support network in Doha, Sandee has started a dragon boat team for survivors and supporters. In fact, survivors of all cancers are welcome. She can be contacted directly for more information at sandee_t@yahoo.com