By Melissa Meehan
BREAKOUT QUOTE: I want to raise awareness that young women can get breast cancer too, and to check your boobs regularly – Erin Payne, cancer survivor
Erin Payne was in her baby bubble, very much in love with her three month old son Brodie when it burst unexpectedly.
One day while feeding him, Erin felt a hard lump in her breast and was soon diagnosed with stage three, grade three triple negative breast cancer.
“I couldn’t believe I had cancer after just having a baby,” Erin said.
“I wanted to have another baby, and I didn’t want my hair to fall out – I was scared.”
Everything happened at lightning speed – she went to the doctor a day after finding the lump and had an ultrasound that same day.
Once the diagnosis, and plan, was confirmed Erin jumped into action, meeting with a fertility clinic to talk about freezing her eggs in the hope she could one day give Brodie a sibling and was lucky enough to get two healthy eggs before her treatment began.
She started chemotherapy, along with steroids, anti-nausea and reflux medication and had monthly injections to place her body in early menopause.
Her hair was gone within 10 days – deciding to shave it off before the cancer beat her to it (something she says was both scary and liberating).
Following her treatment, Erin decided to undergo a double mastectomy – her best chance of the disease not returning.
Despite waking in a world of pain and thinking ‘what have I done?’, the long road back to recovery has been worth it.
“I am currently a survivor,” she said.
Her recovery has been slow, and Erin is still trying to get back her health and fitness prior to the chemotherapy.
A year after getting the ‘all clear’ Erin and her husband decided to try naturally for a sibling for Brodie.
After five months of trying, they fell pregnant and in August 2022 their “rainbow girl” Darcie Margot was welcomed into the world at 3.7kg – a manageable size compared to her brother who weighed a whopping 4.4kg when he was born.
“It’s been quite hard managing two kids, like any parent would know, but the added fatigue, physical ability and low immune system has made it even harder,” she said.
“I keep looking at my babies and feel so blessed and lucky.
“I really don’t want anyone else to go through this, but I do want to raise awareness that young women can get breast cancer too, and to check your boobs regularly.”
