BREAST cancer survivor Reitini Davidson urges all women who know something is wrong with their bodies to get themselves checked – and double checked.
REITINI Davidson isn’t a woman who does things by halves, including her approach to tackling breast cancer. She was diagnosed with Stage 0 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) just before Christmas 2017 – “which was crap.” Four months after finding out she had breast cancer Rei was in surgery having a bilateral mastectomy. It was recommended she have a mastectomy of the breast affected by cancer, but Rei said if they were taking one they might as well take both. “My joke was that I didn’t want to walk around lopsided.” But the surgery was preventative, too. Rei was adopted and while she knew she had a maternal aunt who had breast cancer, she didn’t know the family history on her father’s side. She made contact with her dad and discovered that of seven children, he was the only son. FAMILY HISTORY All his sisters had been diagnosed with breast cancer, as had two of his daughters. “He said I’m so sorry to tell you, that’s from my side of the family. We have the BRCA gene.”’ Breast Cancer Foundation NZ described BRCA1 and BRCA2 as the most researched and well-known genetic mutations associated with breast cancer. The BRCA gene pair usually produces tumour suppressor proteins that protect against cancer development, but when both copies of one or the other gene become altered or mutated, they’re no longer able to repair DNA damage. As a result, cells then accumulate more genetic damage, which can lead to cancer. Rei said despite her cancer only being in one breast, she knew there was a risk of it developing in the other, which contributed to her decision to have a bilateral mastectomy. This wasn’t her first brush with cancer. During one of her pregnancies, she discovered she had cervical cancer. Because the BRCA gene mutation predisposes women to a variety of other cancers including ovarian, pancreatic, melanoma and stomach, and having already battled cervical cancer, Rei elected for a hysterectomy. “My whole thing was being preventative,” she said. She wanted to reduce where she could the potential for cancer to return, for her sake and for her five adult children. “I was devastated enough but my children were distraught.” DIAGNOSIS Rei said when she felt the lump growing which would ultimately lead to her breast cancer diagnosis, she tried to blame it on busy breast, which she had been diagnosed with five years prior. A biopsy of a lump in 2012 came back clear and Rei continued life as normal. “Fast forward to 2017 and the same lump they did a biopsy on got bigger,” she said. “I thought ‘oh nah, it’s just what they said, a blocked milk duct.’” But eventually the lump was too much to ignore. “Every time I would shower or bath, I would feel it.” With a bit of a push from her husband, Rei plucked up the courage to share her fears with a doctor, a locum instead of her usual one. “I was at ‘that’ age and she said it was probably just related to menopause. “So I left it.” Not long after, Rei said she popped into the travelling breast screening truck which just happened to be in town. “And ‘ta-da,’ yep, there was cancer.” At one point while she was going through the testing, she sat in a room with five Te Kūiti women experiencing the exact same thing. “It was good having them and still having them around. “You do need that support.” Although Rei made jokes about her mastectomy, she said it was difficult to come to terms with losing her breasts. Rei worked behind the jewellery counter at The Warehouse Te Kūiti when she was diagnosed and worried about still feeling feminine after her mastectomy, so she got a reconstruction. She said her colleagues at The Warehouse were great supporters and cracked plenty of jokes to keep her positive and comforted her on her tough days. “I broke the news to them which was really hard. “I told them I would be taking a lot of time off work with all my appointments and they were the best. “They said do what you have to do, your job is always going to be here for you.” FUNDRAISING While working there she started fundraising to give back to the Breast Cancer Foundation and hosted Pink Breakfasts. Rei did not undergo chemotherapy as part of her treatment and so never lost her hair. But in 2018 she fundraised by shaving her head. “My youngest daughter did the first section and then the barber tidied it up. “That was a bit of an eye-opener.” The same year she had her surgery, four of Rei’s children appeared on television show Family Feud with hopes of winning first prize to send her to Rarotonga for her 50th birthday. They came second, won about $2500, and sent their mum snorkelling with turtles from a glass-bottomed boat in Rarotonga. Five years on from her diagnosis, Rei has been given the all-clear by her specialist, though she gave the wooden table a superstitiously hefty whack as she said so. To this day she is still grateful she trusted her gut and went for a chat with the travelling breast cancer nurses. “From being told by the locum not to worry because it was probably related to menopause, I’m just so glad I thought frick it, I’m going to do it and get screened. “I knew something was wrong. You know your body.”
