Kiri chooses to live

Breast cancer survivor Kiri Kepa. 18 January 2015 Photograph by Ben Fraser RGP 23Jan15 -

Kiri chooses to live

You have to make the most of life, because you just never know what could happen.
When you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you can either get busy dying, or get busy living according to survivor, Kiri Kepa.

She chose life, head on.

The 48-year-old says the decision to go for a routine mammogram should not have been put off a year, but with no history of the disease in her family, Kiri decided to wait.
"When you hit 45 you qualify for a free mammogram, but I left it. In 2012 I got a few letters from the doctor so I went. But then I hadn't heard from the doctors for a couple of weeks, so I rang them and they thought it was a bit strange, and 30 minutes later I got a call saying, can you come back for a recall and a scan.

"My friend from work came with me, and I had another scan and had a biopsy then and there. Then, a week later, on Halloween, I got my results."

The 10mm lump in Kiri's right breast was malignant, so she made the choice to have a partial mastectomy, the removal of the cancerous part of the breast tissue, saving the rest of the breast.

"I said right, let's just get it over and done with, I've got two Christmas parties I need to attend, so let's just do it.

"I had the surgery at the end of November 2012 and I made my two Christmas parties. Then the healing process started."

Kiri says it was when she went with a friend up to Hawai, near Opotiki, to take some time out that she came to peace with her situation.

"It was the best thing I've ever done. There's a little place up in the hills that's an old pa site. I was there for about a week. It was like spiritual healing for me."
From then on, Kiri said she saw things differently and started seeing opportunities to help others.

"I started radiation up in Hamilton in March 2013. When I would go into town I'd see homeless people, just sitting on the benches, and kids asking for money, so, I'd feed the homeless.

"There was this one day, a couple of my friends had come over for lunch. We ordered our lunch and I made a separate order. When he came with the food I just said, can you take it out there and give it to them, please. So when we came out, they'd all had a feed. It's not something I've ever done. I don't know if it was because of what I was going through, but part of me was just saying, you could have been in that situation. I see things in a different light."

As well as Kiri's continuing random acts of kindness, she has also started a blog to share her journey with others.
Now, two years on, Kiri is making the most of every day, joining various sport groups, and recently posing half naked for a calender to raise money for the Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust.

"I've been living. Extreme living. My ultimate goal is to go to Tuscany. You have to make the most of life, because you just never know what could happen."