Journeying through breast cancer

It was an emotional day for Paula McMahon last Sunday as she climbed Cuilcagh with her twin daughters - a year to the day that she finished her final chemotherapy session. It was a difficult climb but nothing compared to the obstacles she has overcome in recent years.

From Virginia, over the last 12 months, Paula has beaten breast cancer. But it hasn’t been an easy journey for her. Paula lost her infant son Tadgh at Cavan General Hospital some years ago and her mother died following a cancer diagnosis in 1998. She had already seen the darker side of life by the time she realised she had breast cancer in 2023.

Paula is resolute however that life is for living and believes this resolve is what got her to where she is today.

Last weekend she hiked the Stairway to Heaven along the Cuilcagh Mountain with her twin daughters Roisin and Sarah (10). What struck her most on that journey was how far she has come since this time last year.

Strength

Having come through her latest battle, Paula is grateful for her good health and fitness that enabled her to get back into hiking and take on Cuilcagh.

“After all I have been through now, I realise how precious life is; the importance of pushing outside the boundaries; and living the life you have,” she continued before adding that she chatted to her daughters about this very subject matter on the way back from the Cuilcagh climb at the weekend.

“I told my girls that what’s really important in life is being happy, being kind and living the life you have. It’s not about materialistic things at all. I had some very tough days over the last year and there were days when I felt so unwell that I didn’t care if I lived or died, I didn’t want to deal with the world. However, I just had to accept I had cancer and I had to do the chemo. I got through it by counting down my chemo sessions.”

Support

Paula is married to Jonny Doyle, who recently undertook an 18-day trip on his Harley Davison to the Nordkap, raising funds for three charities very close to the family’s hearts - Cuan Cancer Centre, Cavan which supported Paula and the family during her cancer treatment; SOSAD, and Féileacáin, the charity that supported the local couple after their baby Tadgh died at Cavan General Hospital.

Twenty-six years ago, Paula’s mother died from cancer. Her death was traumatic for all the family because she died just 10 days after her diagnosis.

“I thought about my mum and also because myself and my husband had buried our son and survived all of that, I thought to myself, if I can survive that, I can survive anything,” Paula continued.

“Really it was my friend who inspired me to do some hiking. She told me that I would feel better in 2024 and we would do it. So, on January 1, we went down to Glendalough and hiked there. My friend and I did the Stairway to Heaven one month ago too; the hiking has been an amazing experience for me and has really become part of my healing.

“My daughters asked me after I came back from the last hike if I would bring them to the Stairway to Heaven so that is what we did last weekend; the three of us went off on our hike and enjoyed it so, so much. Life really is for living.”

Paula's encouraging women to check themselves regularly and, if they have any symptoms or notice anything unusual, to contact their GP immediately. An early cancer diagnosis can be the difference between life and death.