TG4's contribution to breast cancer awareness month is an uplifting documentary about four Irish survivors. Angie Mezzetti writes
People going through serious illness often describe their emotions as "stormy" or as "coming in waves" as they battle their disease. So it is appropriate that TG4's contribution to breast cancer awareness month is called Slán ón Stoirm or Safely through the Storm.
It's a documentary being broadcast this week about four remarkable Irish women who have encountered breast cancer. In the programme they talk openly about their initial reaction to the diagnosis, their emotional turbulence during treatment and how they have come through the storm and are continuing to come through it.
The focus of the programme is very much on the emotional and spiritual journey of the women, while the medical side of things is kept to a minimum.
The process of chemotherapy, however, is demystified by one of the women who permitted the camera to go along with her for a session.
Essentially, it's a bag of clear fluid delivered through a drip, which often has the capacity to make the patient feel very sick. Several of the women describe their reactions to the process of going through chemo and some of their feelings are surprising.
Mary from Dublin said that while she and her family both thought there were times she would not get through it, she admits that it was also a special period in her life when everyone was concerned for her, sent her flowers and cards and said prayers for her - "am specialta a bhí ann", she says.
One of the contributors says the treatment was so sickening that she wishes there was a cure for the cure. The graphic reality of what a woman's torso looks like with only one breast is tastefully and sensitively shown as a woman's body is draped in an evening wrap.
The production team, including camera operators, were mainly women, which seems to have allowed them very intimate access.
Anne from Kilkenny describes how her sense of self changed when she came home from hospital after a double mastectomy and the reality of what she had been through settled in. Her physical recovery was good but the emotional freefall and adjustment that followed was difficult.
While in the medical environment she convinced herself she was fine, but as soon as she got home, "the tears just came" and it took her a long time to come to terms with it in her head.
Dublin-based Mary was not a candidate for mastectomy but she describes very movingly how she thought she could no longer dream the normal dreams of getting married or having a family. A close friend dared her to dream new dreams, which she did with surprising results.
The central message from the documentary is, as the title suggests, that of the 1,800 who receive a diagnosis of breast cancer each year, a large number come through the experience "safe from the storm".
The programme doesn't shy away from the deeper darker thoughts that come into the minds of the women. However, the essential message is one of hope and adjustment.
The programme can be seen again on TG4 on Friday, October 29th at 7.30 p.m.