When Kris Hallenga, the founder of the CoppaFeel! breast cancer awareness charity, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, she was 23. Things had initially moved very slowly, as doctors were sure that her symptoms were harmless consequences of the pill and hormonal changes; then, once cancer was suspected, very fast, as they raced to discover its extent.
Almost immediately, though, they found out that there was secondary cancer in her spine, and everything ground to a halt. The questions changed, she told me in an interview three years ago. They became: “‘What is the most important thing as you see it? Pain. Right, let’s fix the pain.’ It’s palliative care at that point.”
