Check your Bluetits with Jackie!
I found the Bluetits Chill Swimmers through a series of fortunate events which changed my life! It started when I managed to mix up camping sites and arrive at a different campsite from the one I had actually booked. Luckily there was room for us to stay and it turned out that Sian, who owned Pencarnan campsite, had founded the Bluetits. By 10pm that night Sian had got both myself and my husband Tony in the sea for a moonlight swim at the beautiful Porthsele beach in St Davids and she inaugurated us both into the Bluetits with a badge!
The summer months that followed were just the best, full of new friendships and swimming at different locations across our beautiful county of Pembrokeshire. Finally, at the age of 48, I had found ‘my thing’ and everything about the Bluetits was so inclusive. After years of struggling with arthritis and chronic back pain, now the sea was healing and the cold water soothed my joints.
Then just as I was getting used to the sea turning colder I found a lump in my left breast and I was diagnosed with a grade 3 aggressive breast cancer, which had spread to my lymph nodes. Everything suddenly stopped while treatment took over my life with almost a year of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I needed a PICC line (which is a long line in the arm that is used to administer drugs) and this meant that I could not swim in the water, due to the risk of infection. However, I was able to paddle my feet, so that is what I did.
Whenever I was well enough I would join a Bluetit swim and just get my feet in or be a dry tit and sit and chat - but I was stuck in a 3 weeks cycle involving 2 weeks being very poorly in bed or hospital and only a few days that I could see friends before the next chemotherapy session hit again. Radiotherapy left burns and blisters on my skin but as active treatment finally finished I was able to join in more with my Bluetit friends, and their crazy antics, fun, laughter and friendships got me through. 6 years on I have long term side effects from treatment including lymphoedema and peripheral neuropathy but I feel extremely lucky to be here, in remission from cancer and enjoying life with my family and friends.
I hate everything about cancer, I don’t see myself as a survivor, I just see myself as lucky. The disease is just indiscriminate and although we cannot stop cancer, the earlier we find it, the better chance of remission we have!
I want to empower as many people as possible to be able to recognise the symptoms of breast cancer and to get to know their boobs. Statistics say that 1 in 8 of us will get breast cancer (including 400 men who are also diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK) but most of these breast cancers can be found early through checking boobs regularly. If you are over 50 and have regular mammograms, these are an extra check, you still need to check your boobs every month.
As we are always changing in and out of clothes and swimsuits we have plenty of opportunity to get our hands on our boobs! Look out for any redness, swelling, lumps, bumps, pitted skin like orange peel, nipple changes or discharge. Our boobs change throughout our monthly cycle so try and check them at a similar time of the month but any regular checking is good! Remember most lumps are fatty lumps or cysts, not cancer, but it is important to get all changes checked out by your GP.
Get your hands on your Bluetits and check your boobs, it could save your life just like it saved mine!
- Jackie Jones
P.S. you can buy a 'Check Your Bluetits' badge here!
