Karina Thorogood used to wince when she saw people stare at her G-cup cleavage and comment to each other about “”that girl with the big boobs”.
“I developed when I was quite young and each year my breasts just got bigger and bigger. It was embarrassing,” she says. “I was only a size 12 but had these huge boobs, so when people talked to me, they would look at them rather than my face. I had back problems and could never find clothes that fitted properly.”
When her parents offered to pay $13,000 for breast reduction surgery, the mum-of-one was thrilled at the thought of a smaller bust and an end to the embarrassment. But the operation was to have much more of a life-changing impact on Karina than simply reducing her cup size. When the tissue removed by the surgeon was sent away for testing, it revealed that Karina actually had breast cancer.
“Cosmetic surgeons don’t normally send the tissue away for testing, but it”s just as well mine did, or the cancer would never have been discovered,” says Karina, mum to two-year-old Jazmyne. “The cancerous area was so small and my breast was so big that without the surgery and the testing of the tissue, I wouldn’t have found out until it was too late.”
For a week, specialists examined and tested the cells to find out what kind of breast cancer Karina had and how advanced it was. It was an agonising time for Karina and her partner Neil, who lost his sister to breast cancer 12 years ago, when she was only 28.
“I spent the whole time cleaning out the cupboards and sorting through things, because I thought I was going to die,” says Karina.
She didn’t give a second thought to the fact that she finally had the smaller breasts she had always dreamed of. “I was so excited about having them reduced that when the cancer cells were discovered, I felt ripped off,” she says. “I remember thinking that this was way more than I had bargained for.”
When Karina saw a breast cancer specialist, he had good news for her. Tests had shown that the cosmetic surgeon had removed all the cancerous cells during Karina”s breast reduction surgery, and she was given the all-clear.
Karina and Neil breathed a sigh of relief and thought they could move on with their lives, with Karina enjoying her smaller and cancer-free breasts. But the happiness was short-lived, when two months later she was given another devastating blow.
As a standard procedure after breast surgery, patients are required to have regular mammograms, so specialists can check what is scar tissue from surgery and what could be cancer. It was during one of these routine visits that abnormalities were found in one of Karina”s breasts.
Cancerous cells had returned, revealing that it was a particularly aggressive and fast-spreading form of the disease, and doctors advised that both Karina”s breasts be removed as soon as possible.
“once again, I had received some devastating news, but in some ways I was relieved. I was basically a time bomb. They didn’t know how much cancer was in my breast because it was so small; there was no way they could have picked it up on a mammogram or MRI scan. Getting them both completely removed took away the chances of cancer recurring,” she says.
But the diagnosis was made even more traumatic for Karina because, at the same time she was given the bad news, her best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer and told she had just a short time to live.
“The whole time I was going through all of my stuff, my best friend was in hospital, terribly sick. I spent my days sitting with her and watching her die,” remembers Karina. “I was devastated that I was losing this incredible person in my life. It was hard for me to feel sorry for myself because my friend was suffering, and was far worse off than I was. I had a chance at life, but she was dying and nothing could be done to save her.”
Karina had her mastectomy in September last year and her friend died two days later. Because Karina was recovering from her surgery, she couldn’t attend her friend’s funeral. But the experience has made Karina realise she is lucky to be alive, with the doctors giving her the all-clear after the mastectomy.
Karina had some breast reconstruction surgery, but is still trying to come to terms with yet another huge change to her body. “When I”m naked, in my eyes, I look absolutely terrible. There”s nothing attractive about my body at all,” she says. “I feel like my womanly body is gone.”
But Karina knows she is lucky to be alive and is looking forward to the future. She and Neil plan to marry this year, and Karina now makes family time a priority. “I enjoy every single moment with my daughter,” says Karina. “Now, when she does something naughty, instead of telling her off I tend to be more lenient. I just remember how fortunate I am to even be alive and to be with her. I have a chance to see my girl grow up, learn and experience life.
“I went to have my breasts reduced, but what the whole ordeal has done is made me a more tolerant, caring and giving person.”
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