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October is breast cancer awareness month. Women like Sylvia Soo are sharing their stories to let younger women know they are also at risk of developing breast cancer. Soo is video journalling on a Facebook site called ihearlife.

Young women share breast cancer stories

Multimedia used to raise awareness

It’s not normally a condition associated with women under 50. At 25 or 30, life is just coming together for many young women. But for others, an unexpected life change occurs.

Sylvia Soo, 26, was teaching English overseas when she discovered a lump in her breast. She returned home to Edmonton and was diagnosed with breast cancer on March 26, 2009.

“There is no history of breast cancer in my family,” Soo says. “Before this, I never thought about cancer.”

The Canadian Cancer Society reports that in 2009, an estimated 22,700 women in Canada will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s about 437 women diagnosed every week. The average age of women at risk is 50 to 69.

“I think these statistics definitely make young women feel like it won’t happen to them,” Soo says. “You’re so young; I didn’t really know anyone who had it, so it didn’t even cross my mind.”

To help herself cope with this shocking diagnosis and chemotherapy treatments, Soo began video journaling. She logs her entire experience on Facebook, which she has made public to share her story (tinyurl.com/iheartlife).

“I’m very proactive in my approach,” Soo says. “It’s been very therapeutic to me, helping me sort out a lot of things. It also makes me very vulnerable – sharing my life with the whole world – but it’s been part of the healing process.”

Soo is also involved with Breast Fest, a film festival in Toronto run by an organization called Rethink Breast Cancer. Canadian cancer survivors were asked to submit short films about their experiences, and the public has been voting for them on the Breast Fest website. Voting ends Oct. 15, and the second annual festival takes place in Toronto from Nov. 20-22.

Soo is one of the top eight contenders.

“I think Breast Fest is a great awareness campaign, in an innovative kind of way,” Soo says. “Rethink is a really different organization because it’s focused towards younger women (under 40).”

“I’d like to tell young women to be aware of their bodies,” Soo says.

“If they feel like something is different, they should definitely go get it checked out. Early detection is so key.”

Another Alberta woman is also in the top eight for Breast Fest. Calgarian Allison Lane, 36, was diagnosed with breast cancer in Nov. 2008. The comedy writer/performer and acting coach has been through chemotherapy and a partial mastectomy, but has remained positive.

She has video-journaled her experience on YouTube, and has even nicknamed herself “The Chem-Ho.”

“I’m a funny gal…it’s kind of a gangsta’ title, like I’m the ‘ho’ of chemo and cancer.”

Raising awareness is one of Lane’s main motivations for being part of Breast Fest because she also thought “it wouldn’t happen to me.”

“I am very honoured to be a part of it,” Lane says. “It’s important for people to see young women’s stories because our stories are never told.”

Although not a cancer survivor herself, Calgarian Theanna Bischoff, 25, has also used storytelling to help younger women cope with cancer. Published in 2008, Bischoff’s novel Cleavage chronicles the fictional journey of 24-year-old Leah Jordan, who develops breast cancer. The storyline explores how this diagnosis changes her life drastically.

Bischoff has a BA in psychology with a concentration in creative writing. She studied psycho-oncology – the psychology of having and dealing with cancer. Cleavage began as a final short story assignment for her creative writing class.

“The reason I chose to depict a younger woman is because your twenties are a tumultuous time in life,” Bischoff says.

“You’re often not in a stable relationship or job; Leah doesn’t know what she wants and does not have a lot of financial stability. A cancer diagnosis has the ability to cause significant upheaval in an already unsettled life. I wanted to explore how much it would affect me.”

She says, in terms of psychology, younger people think they’re exempt from illness and sometimes take their health for granted.

“Breast tissue is denser in younger women, so it’s harder to detect a lump. Some younger women are dismissive or don’t follow up because they think they’re too young to have breast cancer.”

BUSTING OUT BREAST CANCER STATS
• In 2009, an estimated 5,400 women and 50 men will die from breast cancer in Canada.
• One in nine Canadian women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
• Only one in every 28 Canadian women will die from breast cancer. This means that about two-thirds of the women diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada will live through it.
• In women aged 20-39, breast cancer incidence and death rates have declined since 1969.
Source: Canadian Cancer Society
For more breast cancer info, visit cbcf.org/breastcancer or cancer.ca. Visit breastfestfilmfest.com for competition info.

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