Erin Kennedy was just 29 when she was put into a chemically induced menopause before starting chemotherapy for breast cancer.
I was just 29 when doctors told me I was going to be put into a chemically induced menopause before starting chemotherapy for breast cancer. My first reaction was in total shock – you don’t think things like this are going to happen to you, especially when you’re young. Straight away, doctors discussed the potential impact on my fertility. It was so overwhelming. I remember walking out of that meeting thinking: ‘Wow, I’m really sick.’ Suddenly, your life plans – having children, that bucket list you wanted to tick off – might not be possible. Cancer becomes the priority, and it feels like every other part of your life has been put on pause. It's crazy to think of the journey I’ve been on since then. That was two years ago. Flash forward to earlier this year, and I won a Gold medal in the Paris Paralympic Games as the cox for the Team GB PR3 Mixed Coxed Four boat. That moment when our boat crossed the line was incredible. I remember looking up into the stands at all the people who had supported me and feeling so emotional about how far I’d come. I had fifteen rounds of chemotherapy between July and December 2022, and I had carried on training through the first part of my treatment, before I had a double mastectomy in January 2023. Chemotherapy is brutal and exhausting, so in order to compete and be successful my routine had to be eat, sleep, repeat. There was nothing else. But training isn’t a punishment on my body – it’s the opposite. If I’d have stopped doing all exercise when I got my diagnosis, that would have been mentally and physically detrimental to me, because my body and mind is so used to it. I was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer in May 2022, after I found a lump while I was on training camp. I knew it wasn’t normal, and I needed to get it checked. But even going through that process, I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be anything serious – I’d had lumps checked before, so it felt relatively routine. A biopsy showed it was cancer, and we’d caught it early. Alongside shock, my first reaction was frustration. We had recently come out of the pandemic, and things were only just getting back to normal. That partly informed why I wanted to keep training and competing. It was about clinging onto normality and deciding that I was going to have a good year – even if I had this massive bump in the road to contend with.
Immediately, discussions began about ‘shutting my ovaries down’ – which I later realised was putting me into early menopause. Chemotherapy can impact your fertility, and a way to protect it is to put you into the menopause. I had Triple negative breast cancer, but if you have a hormone-positive breast cancer, you may well be put into the menopause irrelevant of your fertility, because the oestrogen is feeding the cancer. I’d always seen children as part of my future, but in that situation your thinking becomes quite binary. It’s almost irrelevant to be thinking about my long-term fertility health and whether I come out of the menopause, because I need to survive the cancer to get there. My oncologist gave me a strict timeline of three weeks for fertility preservation injections and surgery, starting treatment the day after my eggs were retrieved. It gave me peace of mind knowing that if I didn’t come out of the menopause, I still had the chance of having children biologically. However, it was very touch and go. I was referred to an amazing unit and luckily my body responded well to the treatment. My husband and I ended up with nine frozen embryos which is a really great number. Going through menopause at such a young age can be really isolating, which is why access to appropriate support and resources is crucial. Boots is expanding their partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support for Menopause Awareness Month, to raise awareness of the growing issue of early menopause caused by cancer treatment. They’re offering advice through Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists – pharmacists who are specially trained by Macmillan to support people affected by cancer. They also have specially trained Boots Macmillan Beauty Advisors who can share tips and advice on how to help with some of the physical changes that cancer can have on your appearance and self-confidence. A resource like this would have been so helpful to me, because there isn’t a lot of clarity around cancer-induced menopause. The reality is that menopause is the byproduct of something much more important, which is treating the cancer. But you’re still living with that byproduct, and the realities of it. It happens overnight, which means the symptoms are acute.
©Erin Kennedy x Boots
The worst symptoms were the hot flushes. It feels like it builds in your chest, and I can’t explain how hot you get. It’s hard going through this at any age, but especially in your twenties because you don’t have any peers who can relate. Night sweats are tough too because you feel constantly fatigued from poor sleep. I found some of the biggest impact it had on my training was trying to keep cool because I’d have these flare ups in the middle of a session. I also struggled with brain fog, and I became irritated because I felt less sharp. You’re having a really great conversation with a group of friends, and you think of a funny anecdote to tell, then it completely goes. It feels like your body is being hijacked, and you don’t really know why. I openly documented my cancer and menopause journey on social media. We’re all guilty of putting off that smear test, or having that mole checked, but it could save your life. Sometimes we don’t get things checked out because we’re scared of what the outcome might be. I wanted to share my journey to show that, even in a worst-case scenario where you need treatment, you can still live a fulfilling life and do amazing things. I also wanted to raise awareness around the realities of having cancer as a young person. My friends were amazing at supporting me, but I missed lots of birthdays, weddings, and days out because the chances of me having the energy to go were slim. I had to be careful taking public transport because cancer makes you immunosuppressed. Physically, I changed so much; I lost all my hair, I was on steroids, so my cheekbones and jawlines went, and I wasn’t feeling my best. I found myself leaning into those friendships and relationships where I could completely be myself. I was given the all clear in March 2023, which was an amazing feeling. I’m not on ongoing chemotherapy anymore, and my body was able to come out of the menopause, so it’s great to feel it healing. My long-term goals are on Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, and from January I will be getting back into training. But for now, I’m going to take my foot off the gas for a bit and say yes to those weddings, theatre productions and concerts after missing out on so much. There’s a lot of catching up to do. Erin Kennedy is working in partnership with Boots and Macmillan Cancer Support to raise awareness of early menopause caused by cancer treatment. For more information visit: boots.com/menopause-support
Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us
English (US) ·