Emotional Wounds from Cancer Often Never Go Away
- Pop singer and coach of ‘The Voice Australia,’ Rita Ora, shared about the trauma of her mother’s breast cancer battle after a contestant spoke of her mother fighting the disease.
- Ora’s mother Vera, a survivor at 57, was diagnosed in 2005 at 39 years old. To this day, Ora says that she experiences fear and trauma every time her mother gets checked, as reliving the pain is very hard for her.
- Learning about your family history of cancer is vital, and make sure to ask your doctor about genetic testing. Thankfully, Ora does not have the genetic mutation but urges how important it is to still get checked.
The pop singerwho is typically private about her personal lifewas moved by 26-year-old contestant Aleisha Gam’s story about her mother battling cancer and felt compelled to empathize.
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“It was really weird to see your mum, like, not be the superhero that you always think your mum is going to be …” she continued, “because you never think your parents are going to sort of, like, break down in front of you, you know what I mean?”
“And then you have to sort of put them together … I can’t even speak,” she said in tears, saying it’s something that’s very hard for her to talk about.
Rita Ora’s Mother’s Cancer Battle
Ora’s mother Vera, a 57-year-old psychiatrist, first battled breast cancer in 2005 at age 39. Thankfully, Vera survived, but it does not take away the fear and pain that Ora experienced, especially as a teenager. The British songwriter opened up many years later in a 2020 interview with The Sun.
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“Cancer affects everyone. My mum battled it twice, and I had a lot of different emotions,” Ora admitted. “I felt a lot of responsibility to step up and become a strong teenager. I wanted to protect my mother,'”
She says that every time her mother gets a check-up, the anxiety returns. “Everyone has a way of dealing with their thoughts, and I am a big believer in therapycertainly it has helped me a lot,” she added.
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A Family History of Breast Cancer
As the daughter of a woman who battled breast cancer, Ora has talked about the importance of genetic testing and getting regular mammogram checks.
Vera did not have a lump or any pain in her breast, but still found out via a routine mammogram that she had cancer. Luckily she was responsibly taking care of her health, which in turn, led to Ora taking her health into her own hands as well. "I have done the BRCA test (the hereditary breast cancer test) and the gene test myself and, luckily, I don't have the gene.”
BRCA (a breast cancer gene mutation) is actually two genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2), proteins that work as tumor suppressors. They help repair damaged DNA, and are important for ensuring the stability of each cell's genetic material.
“When either of these genes is altered, that mutation can mean that its protein product does not function properly, or that damaged DNA may not be repaired correctly,” Dr. Rebecca Arend, associate scientist at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, explained to SurvivorNet. “These inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 can increase the risk of female breast and ovarian cancers, and have also been associated with increased risks for several other cancers.”
Even though Ora does not have the gene mutation, she still checks herself regularly. “Genetically, there was no history of breast cancer in my family before my mother, but she still got it.”
Genetic testing is important, but only about 20% of women with breast cancer have tested positive for the gene mutation. So overall, doing self-exams at home and getting in for mammograms at around age 40 (some experts argue 35 nowadays, and earlier with a familiar history) will help you stay ahead of a potential diagnosis.
Breast canceralong with many other types of canceris always easier to treat when caught early.
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