Day 9 - About Gillian Alton

Oct 9th, 2024 - This picture was taken in October 2015. It was my ID picture taken the first day at my new job. No one's life is perfect, but I distinctly remember thinking at this time, life was going pretty well! I had just completed my PhD, bought a house with my amazing partner, and started my dream job working from home. 

This was also the day I discovered a lump in my breast. I had an immediate feeling that it was cancer, but tried to calm my gut feeling with the statistics - given my family history and risk factors it would be incredibly rare to have breast cancer at my age. However, I couldn't ignore my gut and got it checked out anyway. 

I was only at my dream job for 3 months before taking a year off for cancer treatment and recovery. I was lucky to have amazing colleagues that supported me and allowed me the time I needed to recover. While I would never say that I am thankful for having cancer, I am thankful of the lessons that having cancer has given me and how it shapes my future goals. Cancer has given me a different perspective on my life, career and family. As happy as I thought I was pre-cancer, I think I am even happier now!