Tania Yelland : Hello - I hope everyone that watched the show gained something from it.

Chat Ed : Welcome Tania :)

marie20uk : hi tania
kiirsty : hi tania

dolly : how did the subsequent treatment affect your everyday and long term life?

Tania Yelland : At first dolly, obviously because I was pregnant the treatment was very traumatic. Not necessarily the treatment itself just the fact that I had been diagnosed with cancer. Then after a while you begin to live with the fact that have had this diagnosis and use it to change your life around.

Kate : Congratulations on your succesful birth, your son is lovely!!
weenie : so what treatment did you have?

Tania Yelland : Thank you! I had a mastectamy with lymph node clearance. After Max was born I had SEC then I took tamoxisen for eighteen months.

Sassy Saskia : How do you feel in yourself now, what advice could you give someone with breast cancer?

Tania Yelland : I feel very well now thank you. My advice for someone who is currently being diagnosed is to look at the positive stories that are out there that life does go on. And to those that are living with it I would say to look at people like me, living proof that there is life after cancer.

Iain : Did you have any experience of cancer before your own?

Tania Yelland : No, nothing at all.

weenie : How many of the people treated with you had the same successful story as you?

Tania Yelland : I wouldn't know - when I was treated I was very much on my own - so I didn't get to know anyone else around me.

Iain : Do you worry that it might come back now, how do you cope?

Tania Yelland : Of course you worry. You try not to think about it everyday, you just make the most of the time that you do have. Max is a great distraction too!

Kate : Did you enjoy writing your book, and meeting other woman that have been in the same situation as you?? What is the book called and is it available to buy now??

Tania Yelland : Yes it is. The book gave me great encouragement It's called 'All Woman - Life After Breast Cancer'. It is available now. All royalties to Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Breast Cancer the charity will receive all the royalties. Each individual story was a great encouragement to me, that was the initial reason I started my research. And it was great to find other women who had experience of it all and who had positive outcomes like myself.

marie20uk : how much will the book cost and where can i buy it?

Tania Yelland : It's £9.99 and it's available in all good bookstore (as they say), I know WHSmiths and Watersone's have it as well as the smaller ones.

marie20uk : do u have a web page?

Tania Yelland : Not me personally no, but Breakthrough does and that is : www.breakthrough.org.uk

fred : do feel that the government should do more to encourage breast cancer screenings?

Tania Yelland : I think they are doing a lot, making great strides forward. At the end of the day it takes the person to go forward. So, it's more a case of raising awareness to motivate the women to seek the screening. I think more money should be spent in research and the treatment of cancer - that's where the funds are lacking.

dolly : But aren't the campaigns/screenings directed more at older women?

Tania Yelland : Yes they are, which is why I say women need to be aware. If a young woman finds a lump and goes for a screening then she can be helped. But women must be pro-active.

Fringe : How did you feel when you discovered it? Do you have any advice for people who are hiding the fact they may have it?

Tania Yelland : I was shocked. Especially being pregnant. The vital point is that if you suspect a problem you do something about it immediately. The longer you wait the worse the outcome can be. If you do something straight away the chances are you'll save your own life.

marie20uk : is it true men can get breast cancer too?

Tania Yelland : Yes it is.

weenie : What post operative cosmetic solutions were offered to you?

Tania Yelland : I had immediate reconstruction which is a chest expander. I went back after eight months to have more reconstructing with a reduction on one side and new silicon/saline implant on the other.

Iain : You were lucky that the cancer had not spread so far as to endanger your chilld? What would have been the otions of the cancer had spread more? Was there ever a question of you putting your own life at risk by putting off treatment, so that your baby would not be advversly affected?

Tania Yelland : Yes. I was advised to terminate the pregnancy which is not something I wanted to do...

Chat Ed : !

Tania Yelland : When they did the mastectomy they advised that if it had spread I should terminate but as it hadn't it wasn't an issue that we had to follow through.

dolly : So what are the survival statistics now?

Tania Yelland : I think they are generally 75%... on average.

Zoe : how old where you when you were diagnosed?

Tania Yelland : I was thirty.

Mark : who or what has been your biggest inspiration?

Tania Yelland : During the time it was Max even though he was unborn at the time.

dolly : Do you think that the NBCAM gets enough support and promotoion?

Tania Yelland : I think this year they have had quite a bit of promotion. I've been out of the country so I can't say what it's been like in past years. Obviously the more exposure the better.

marie20uk : if a man discovers a lump he has to wait 6-8 weeks but if it is a woman it is less than a week, why do u think that is?

Tania Yelland : I don't know actually, I don't know if those figures are correct so I can't really comment on those.

Honeybee : is breast screening the most reliable way to discover if you have cancer?

Tania Yelland : No, I think self examination is the initial way.

collincatcher : How do you know when you have breast cancer and what should you do?

Tania Yelland : You only know when you have a biopsy really. If you suspect something you should speak to a doctor and have the lump biopsyed.

Iain : What was your background before, had you done much writing, or was it just the inspirational stories that you felt a need to tell?

Tania Yelland : A bit of both. I had done a bit of writing but nothing commercially. It was definitely the feeling that these stories needed to be told. There needed to be something positive to come out of the very negative media that breast cancer receives.

dancing girl : Is it true that breast cancer is genetic - do any females in your family also have it, or does your family have a history of it?

Tania Yelland : No history in the family, mine wasn't genetic. I think most aren't. A few are, but many cases are not.

weenie : how does treatment in this country compare to that in otheers, say in comparison to the rest of Europe?

Tania Yelland : I think we are the poor cousin in the UK. I had my diagnosis and surgery in America and I was, from diagnosis to surgery less than a week. In this country you'd have to wait a lot lot longer, which can have devastating results. However, when I had my after treatment over here it was fantastic, I was very lucky.

dancing girl : Did your treatment cost you anything?

Tania Yelland : Yes, it did. I was a private patient so yes it did.

Purple : How quickly can breast cancer be treated?

Tania Yelland : I had surgery within a week.

Chat Ed : Wow.

Tania Yelland : So obviously very quickly, even though I was treated in America.

dancing girl : What does a lump feel like? is it very distinguishable from breast tissue (which is not exactly *smooth*?)

Tania Yelland : I think every lump varies. The thing to look out for is changes. Women have to know what their breasts feel like normally, pre-period, post-period, so that you know what your body feels like. Then if you suspect any changes go and see your doctor.

blimey : How did you find your lump?

Tania Yelland : Being pregnant obviously your breasts are going through lots of changes and I was very conscious of them. I felt a lump myself one day.

kp : If you could give other sufferers one piece of advice what would it be?

Tania Yelland : To believe that you can get through it and to live a long and happy life.

Chat Ed : OK folks, that's our half hour, so last three questions now....
Sandie : Have you changed your diet since you had breast cancer?

Tania Yelland : Not really, no. I was recommended less meat and less dairy and less alcohol. I tend to be laid back about diet I don't think it can make that much difference.

dolly : do you believe in alternative treatments?

Tania Yelland : I believe in alternative treatments as supplements to orthodox medecine.

Chat Ed : Last one Tania:
dolly : So what are you going to do now?

Tania Yelland : I'm working on the US Version of the book, that's my next immediate project.

Honeybee : Thank you for answering my question..........good luck and goodbye.
Kate : Goodbye Tania - congratulations again :-)
dolly : thanks for taking the time to talk to us

Chat Ed : Thanks for coming, Tania Hope you found that valuable, guys n gals and thanks for joining us tonight.

Tania Yelland : Thanks everyone for watching and for people that do have it - know that you are not alone. There are many others that have got through it - stay positive!

marie20uk : thanks
Mark : cheers
Sassy Saskia : All the best Tania
Purple : thaat was a really good chat

Tania Yelland : Thank you, goodbye.
Tania Yelland leaves the room...