Love and loss – how cancer changed Carol’s life

For 66-year-old Carol Morrison, life hasn’t been easy over the last few years. From the loss of loved ones, illness in her family to a cancer diagnosis, with the support of her family she’s learned how to get through anything that life throws her.

Five years ago, Carol lost her husband to bowel cancer.

“I felt so helpless. He went to the doctor with a cold and after blood tests, he was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and told he had only months to live,” Carol said.

She then lost her brother to lung cancer just last year. With these losses front of mind, the last thing Carol thought was that she too would develop cancer. She first went to the doctor after noticing changes to her nipple, but wasn’t too concerned.

Throughout her treatment at Icon, Carol used the Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) technique to reduce the potential impact of radiation to her heart.

This process involves holding a certain number of breaths for short bursts during treatment, which allows the heart to move backwards into the chest while the breast is exposed to radiation.

For Carol, this was a source of comfort given her family history of heart disease.

“I was able to practice before I went and did it really well throughout the whole thing, except for the last treatment because I was so excited!”

After completing her radiation therapy treatment, Carol was told the news she had been longing to hear – there was no evidence of cancer left in her body.