Cancer survivor in Tipperary wants 'something good' to come from her journey

A Clerihan woman who has battled breast cancer is appealing for support for her fundraiser for Breakthrough Cancer Research, a foundation based in Cork.

47-year-old Antje Hogan, who is now officially cancer-free, believes that research is a vital part in improving outcomes for cancer patients in the future. She is supporting the foundation because she says she wants “something good” to come out of her journey.

Antje, a teacher at the Presentation Secondary School in Clonmel, is originally from Dresden in Germany and moved to Clonmel 21 years ago.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in early January of this year.

“My oncologist said I have a bit of a journey ahead of me and that it would be 12 to 18 months before life would return to normal,” she says.

“I had no idea what to expect. It had never occurred to me that cancer might be on the cards for me. There isn’t a single cancer case on my side of the family. But here we are”.

Antje lives in Clerihan with her husband Ken and teenage sons, 18-year-old Kalle and Finn (14), who were just as shocked when the diagnosis was confirmed.

“They have been great, even though cancer couldn’t have come at a worse time for us,” she says.

“We were juggling a self-build and Ken’s mother had just moved in with us before Christmas when I found a lump in my breast the day before New Year’s Eve. Wishing each other a Happy New Year the next day felt very strange, as we knew 2024 could be very challenging for us”.

However, in spite of these challenges and a couple of unexpected turns during treatment, Antje is managing her cancer journey well.

She says she has adopted the German motto of “Augen zu und durch,” which could be translated as “close your eyes and just get through it”.

“It might sound strange, but I decided early on to hand all responsibility for my treatment to my oncologists,” she explains.

“They are the experts who know what they are doing. And for me the important thing was to listen only to them, to stay away from Google and advice from others, even from other cancer patients”.

She says she knows people mean well when they give advice and share their own experiences, but she felt the best way to protect herself and get through the treatment was to take it step by step and block out anything that wasn’t coming from her doctors, even if that meant potentially missing out on supports.

People who know Antje well describe her as tenacious, determined and resolute.

She laughs when she says, “my husband would probably refer to that as stubbornness. But I suppose I can be passionate about things and maybe push too hard at times”.

Antje says she misses her teaching colleagues and students.

“Teaching has always been an outlet for me to channel my passions and give something to others. Maybe this fundraiser is filling the hole that not being able to work has created”.

She says the idea for the fundraiser came early on in her journey, when she had a conversation with a cancer nurse about the stigma that is attached to hair loss, especially for women. She didn’t know at this stage how she would deal with this inevitable part of most chemotherapies, but she immediately felt she wanted to raise awareness and link it somehow to raising funds for cancer.

Back in April she put out a call for women who had experienced hair loss to volunteer for a photo shoot.

“I wanted to show a funny side to being bald and had a few ideas for pictures where toys like Lego and Playmobil come in handy,” she says. Unfortunately, the photo shoot never happened, even though a few women from the Clonmel area had gotten in touch. An unforeseen hospital stay got in the way and it proved too difficult to coordinate a project with the various women at different stages of their treatment.

When Antje recently learned that her first surgery was unsuccessful in removing the cancer and she was facing her biggest hurdle, a mastectomy, she remembered that she wanted some meaning, something good to come out of her journey.

She convinced her husband and sons to get at least one picture taken and hoped if it put a smile on people’s faces, that they might give a donation to her fundraiser for Breakthrough Cancer Research, a foundation based in Cork that funds the effective development of new treatments for cancer.

“To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about a target or anything like that, so I figured if I could raise €1,000, wouldn’t that be something. But then the donations kept coming in and with them so many encouraging words and good wishes. It was quite overwhelming really,” she says.

“All along I have drawn a lot of strength from the people around me. My family, friends, colleagues and the people of Clerihan have been incredibly supportive and it is just amazing to see how good people really are. And that they’re there when you need them most”.

Above: The QR code for Antje Hogan's fundraiser  

Antje has raised close to €4,000 and is determined to keep the fundraiser going because she believes cancer research is a vital part in improving outcomes for cancer patients in the future.

“I have really been very lucky, not just with the excellent care and treatment I have received so far. My surgeon assured me from the beginning that my cancer is treatable and while I still have a bit of a journey ahead of me, the second surgery was successful and I am officially cancer-free.

“Unfortunately, not every cancer patient is this lucky. Too many families have lost loved ones to cancer, including my Irish family, and if anything can be done to change the odds then that is a worthy cause”.

If you want to support Antje, please go to www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/supportcancerresearch or scan the QR code (published above) to make a donation.

Your support would be very much appreciated.