Stories of Help and Hope

Sean Boylan

Sean was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 following a check-up for what he thought was a pulled muscle. It recurred in 2013. GAA legend and manager of the Meath Gaelic football team for 23 years, he is also a fifth-generation herbalist.  Read More


Roisin Dunne

When they told me I had breast cancer all I could think about was my daughter. As a single mother with a four-year-old girl, I couldn’t bear the thought of her going through her life alone. Read More


Deirdre Morrissey

It took a good six months before I started to think that maybe I would come out the other end of this. I started to feel that this horrible nightmare would finish the day I finished radiotherapy. And it did. Read More


Deirdre Featherstone

I was determined that I was going to kick the shite out of cancer, so it was the perfect title for my blog. I started www.kickingtheshiteoutofcancer.com when I was diagnosed in September 2012. Read More


Nicola Cahill

I lost a lot to cancer, but I gained a lot too. Read More


Ashley Coffey

Ashley was diagnosed in 2005. She had a lumpectomy 10 days before Christmas and a repeat surgery in January 2006. She started chemotherapy in March 2006, followed by radiation treatment and brachytherapy. Nine years later, she was diagnosed with a second primary breast cancer tumour. She underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Read More 


Martin Fox

Martin is a taxi driver based in Kilkenny. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 and had a radical prostatectomy in 2011. He received the all-clear in January 2016. He attends his local cancer support centre, Cois Nore. Read More


Yvonne Joye

Yvonne was diagnosed in November 2009. Having felt an abnormality in her breast and hearing all the messages about breast checks, she went to her GP who referred her to a specialist. Five days later, she was given her diagnosis.  Read More 


Naoise Kennedy

Naoise was diagnosed with prostate cancer in mid-2016 but it was decided that no medical intervention was needed at this time. Instead he is being treated with “active surveillance”, where he is regularly monitored to ensure the cancer has not grown or spread. Read More


Matt Ward

Matt had been going for regular PSA tests for a number of years when he was told in 2011 that there was a 25% chance that he had prostate cancer. He decided to have robotic assisted surgery. This left him with some difficult side effects which he struggled with for a year and a half. However, after further surgery, these were rectified and he is now in good health.  Read More


Jarlath McKenna

Jarlath  was diagnosed in 2012. He underwent a radical prostatectomy in February 2013 at the age of 48. He is a lecturer in nursing at Waterford Institute of Technology. Read More


Gerry Bruen

Gerry was diagnosed in September 2014 and had brachytherapy in early 2015. He is an insurance broker and was back in work four days after his procedure. Read More


Michael Daly

Michael was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. He had a radical prostatectomy in September of that year. In 2014 he was given the all-clear. Together with his wife Jacqueline, their son Seamus and a group of like-minded friends they established the East Galway and Midlands Support Group. Read More 


Tony Ward

Former Irish rugby international Tony was diagnosed in 2012 with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. It had been six years since he had visited the GP. He had brachytherapy, followed by a course of external beam radiotherapy. He also had three years of hormone therapy. Read More 


Michael Murphy

Michael is a former RTE newscaster, an author and a psychoanalyst. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007 after having a regular blood test. He chose to have a radical prostatectomy. In 2009, he had a sling procedure to address incontinence issues. Read More 


Rory Duffy

Rory was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2003 and had brachytherapy at the beginning of 2004. His wife died of breast cancer 22 years ago. Read More 


David Leavy

David was diagnosed with prostate cancer when he was only 44. With a young family, he feared the worst. Following robotic surgery, he made a full recovery and was given the all-clear in 2015. Read  More