Breast cancer and alcohol: I was an alcoholic and I blame that for my cancer

I wasn’t honest with anyone about how much alcohol I drank. I didn’t tell my friends, wasn’t honest with my doctor and I was often in denial even to myself.

“Ohh, a few drinks during the week, more over weekends,” would be my response if asked how much I drank.

Then I would chase another promotion, do another geographic (what we in recovery call it when you move location hoping it might help your drinking), change GP and continue on my merry way again, chardonnay or bubbles in hand.

I was a workaholic alcoholic – and I didn’t even know it myself.

I drank most days from the age of 17 until I was 40 and by then, my drinking was totally out of control. I was a real Jekyll and Hyde and couldn’t guarantee my behaviour when drunk.

I was going to end up dead and I knew that when I staggered through the doors of AA on the Gold Coast in a bid to get sober.

I’ve now been sober for eight years. Getting sober is, hands down, the hardest thing I’ve ever done and by far the achievement I’m most proud of.

Last February, I went for a routine mammogram, followed by a whirlwind of 12 biopsies, a breast cancer diagnosis, consultations, surgeons and an overwhelming barrage of information and statistics.

I was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer, which had already spread to my lymph nodes.

A six-month course of chemotherapy – 16 cycles – began as soon as Gold Coast University Hospital (which is amazing) could book me in. A short break after chemo, I then endured a double mastectomy and lymph node clearance on my right side. I’m in the process of going through the reconstruction surgery process.

It has been an intensely challenging and surreal 18 months.

Along the way, I started researching, read a thousand articles, signed up for newsletters and joined social media groups as I sought out others who had walked this perilous path before me.

Honestly? I had never heard about a connection between alcohol and breast cancer. Yet, World Health Organisation (WHO) clearly states, “Alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer,” describing it as “one of the major modifiable risk factors for the disease.”

Dr Marilys Corbex, Senior Technical Officer for Noncommunicable Diseases at WHO says, “Many people, including women, are not aware that breast cancer is the most common cancer caused by alcohol among women globally. People need to know that by reducing alcohol consumption they can reduce their risk of getting cancer. It doesn’t matter what type, quality or price alcohol is.”

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) published an article about why some women choose to question this link. Basically, many women said that they enjoy a glass of wine and no one could tell them they should quit. I hear you.

“Up to one in 10 cases of breast cancer in Australia is linked to drinking alcohol,” says RACGP. “Midlife women are already at increased risk for breast cancer because of their age, and tend to drink more than younger women. That means this group is at even more risk for breast cancer.”

The University of Oxford in the UK simply states, “New data from a large-scale genetic study led by Oxford Population Health confirms that alcohol directly causes cancer”.

As I continued down the rabbit hole, I found out that there are three ways that alcohol can cause cancer. Firstly, it can damage our cells and stop cells repairing. Secondly, alcohol affects chemical signals which can make cells more likely to divide and this increases the chance that cancer will develop. And thirdly, alcohol makes it easier for cells in our mouth and throat to absorb cancer-causing chemicals.

It doesn’t matter what you drink – wine, beer or spirits – they can all cause cancer.

Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 human carcinogen by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). It is understood to be linked to seven types of cancer (breast, mouth, throat, oesophagus, liver, larynx and colorectum).

Now, I’m not here to lecture anyone. I’ll be the first to hold up my hand to say that I abused alcohol for many years and drank more than enough for five lifetimes.

I also know, much as it pains me to admit this, that knowing about the connection between alcohol and breast cancer wouldn’t have made me put down the booze. I’m an alcoholic – and I’m also a realist.

However, I am a great believer in being armed with the facts.

There may be someone reading who’s looking for a reason to cut back or quit drinking; maybe these facts encourage you to take that step. It’s your life, you get to make your own decisions.

Yes, quitting alcohol is hard, but I can promise you it’s worth it and there’s a whole fellowship of people who can help to show you the way out of that relentless cycle of guilt, shame and remorse.

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I can certainly assure you that five-hour chemotherapy, losing your hair and both breasts to cancer, is a long way from fun.

It’s eight years since any alcohol passed my lips but I do wonder if my hard drinking, hard partying younger years contributed to my breast cancer.

Of course, it doesn’t change where I’m at today. I must fully accept what I’ve lost – and potentially the long-term consequences of my irresponsible actions.

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