Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies has warned against drink – but Joanna Moorhead tells Grace Macaskill how living life to the full helped save her
Two years ago I was diagnosed with a breast cancer that I believe was alcohol-related. It was a lobular tumour, the less common kind linked to alcohol.
But here I am today, sitting in a restaurant about to have lunch – and a glass of wine – with a friend.
If you’d told me back then what was going to happen I’d probably have imagined that, if I was lucky enough to survive, I’d definitely be giving up alcohol.
After all, Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies said this week she thinks about the risk of breast cancer every time she has a glass of wine – and the inference of what she says is that the risks aren’t worth it, and she usually sticks to water.
She hasn’t even had the disease. I have survived it. And my cancer could still come back.
So why on earth do I still drink? There truly were terrible moments on my cancer journey. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else.
I guess what it comes down to is quite simply the importance of enjoying life. When I had cancer I discovered that I didn’t just want to survive – I wanted to have fun, to make the most of every single day, and to enjoy happy occasions.
Of course alcohol isn’t always synonymous with fun. But for me – and this was an entirely personal choice – drinking wine, beer or tequila adds a dimension to social occasions that I rather enjoy. And it feels to me it wasn’t worth surviving cancer if I’m going to limit my life.
For the record, I don’t believe I was a heavy drinker: I had probably two glasses of wine on maybe four or five nights of the week.
The doctors who looked after me stressed that it was more likely to have been some sort of genetic predisposition to breast cancer, and alcohol was only one ingredient in the cocktail that caused my illness.
My drinking habits have definitely changed post-illness, but I didn’t go through what I went through to spend my precious time fretting over whether the next glass of wine could be the cancer trigger.
Life is all about weighing up risks and working out which are and aren’t worth taking. Sometimes I wonder whether the most risk-averse people have realised that, however safely you think you’re playing it, death –
and, very often, disease – is inevitable.
Our existence isn’t just about surviving, it’s about making the most of every single day, it’s about being open to experiences, and it’s about having fun.
And to those people who say that as a mother (of four daughters) I should do everything I possibly can to make sure I’m around as long as possible: they’re right.
Read more: I told doctors to give me a double mastectomy
But I also want my girls to know that being a 50-something woman is about grabbing hold of life and enjoying it, and not being frightened by it.
Of course, alcohol isn’t the main ingredient in that. But drinking in moderation is a fun part of the package and whatever happens I want my girls to remember me as a mum who enjoyed life, and who believed life was for living, not for fearing.
If I thought about cancer with every glass of wine, cancer would have won. And it certainly hasn’t done that.
The risks
Cancer Research UK says alcohol can cause seven types of cancers.
The body converts alcohol into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde which damages DNA and stops cells repairing it. It can cause high blood pressure leading to strokes.
Alcohol hardens heart arteries and costs 8,000 lives a year.
The benefits
Drinking in moderation raises levels of good cholesterol which protects the heart.
Reduces the risk of blocked arteries in the legs as it improves circulation and dilates blood vessels.
Drinkers are up to 24 per cent less likely to suffer a heart attack than teetotallers, according to a Canadian study.
My operation
I went into hospital for a routine keyhole surgery for a hysterectomy.
But I haemorrhaged, losing over three litres of blood. The surgeon found my internal organs were all tangled in scar tissue from a C-section I’d had years before.
He cut it all away and freed my bladder, bowel and intestines. What should have been a routine op of an hour and 20 minutes took seven-and-a-half hours.
I was in hospital for a week recovering but the after-care was great and without Dr Clive Gie and his amazing team I would not be here to celebrate my 50th birthday in June this year. I can’t thank them enough.
