At 42, Olesha was a busy mother of two, working in business development for an entertainment company, and helping out with her partner’s construction company. While cancer lurked in the back of her mind, her family health history peppered with it, Olesha was caught off guard when she learned she had breast cancer.
“I think I always knew there was a good chance I would get cancer,” she said, naming a long list of close family members who had developed cancer in their 50s and 60s. “But I was really surprised to get it so young,” she said.
Finding comfort in knowing the facts, one of the first things Olesha did was arm herself with information.
“I’m very invested in my health and knowing everything that’s going on with my body. The minute I got diagnosed, I learned to read a pathology report, learned all about the disease, examined every avenue of treatment,” she said. “I did all kinds of research, so I was very well prepared for everything that would happen.”
She also sought out mental and emotional support, joining Wellspring Alberta and a Facebook group specifically aimed at young adults with breast cancer.
“Surprisingly, despite the statistics on cancer, I didn’t really know anyone my age who has it, so it really helped to talk to other people and get their perspectives,” she said.
Although discovered early, a lumpectomy didn’t sufficiently eliminate the cancer, so Olesha opted to have chemotherapy followed by a bilateral mastectomy. She found chemotherapy extremely hard, but she always showed up to her appointments dressed in her best, and she and her partner made an effort to lighten the atmosphere with their boisterous humour.
Now, in the process of reconstructive surgery, Olesha continues to maintain a positive attitude, noting that losing her hair has given her a new kind of freedom – one she doesn’t plan to lose anytime soon.
“I had no idea I would love being bald. I keep shaving my head – it’s so much easier, less restrictive,” she said, adding that most of her life she had hair extensions and hair down to her waist. Now, she goes between being bald and wearing one of her many wigs.
And when it comes to Wellspring, while she enrolled in an art program and tried out Qigong, her favourite programs have been the family programs.
“I really enjoyed the programs I could bring my kids to. I appreciated that there were other people around to talk with my kids about cancer, because although I am very open book with them, I could see that my son especially was sometimes emotionally overwhelmed, and he would seize up and get tense when I tried to talk to him. But with some of the people at Wellspring, he would open up more. It was also really helpful for me and my partner to be out and talking to other adults, some with cancer and some caregivers. It was good to get other points of view on parenting through this. To have an evening out at a place where my kids are having a fun experience with other kids, and where my partner and I can talk to other adults about ‘real’ things going on – that was a really nice break for my family,” she said.
At present, Olesha is considered cancer-free, and with regular monitoring she feels hopeful for the future.