FARHANA Alam wants to make Muslim women more aware of disease-and says she's learned more ways to tie a headscarf.
WHEN Farhana Alam attended a workshop for women with cancer who had lost their hair, she was flattered when those taking the class joked she could teach them more about wearing headscarves than they could ever teach her.
As a Muslim woman, the 30-year-old has spent much of her adult life wearing headscarves as part of her faith.
So when Farhana lost her hair while undergoing gruelling treatment for breast cancer, she knew many people might have thought that she would easily be able to hide her hair loss.
But the mum says gaining practical tips on how to knot a silk scarf around your head is just one of the tools that Breast Cancer Care’s Headstrong workshop provides for women.
The emotional support she received at the class was just as important.
Farhana is keen to raise awareness of breast cancer among Scotland’s Asian community, and will model at this year’s Breast Cancer Care fashion show, being held in partnership with the Sunday Mail.
Farhana, of Glasgow, said: “I think having my hair covered all the time when I was well actually made losing my hair all the more difficult when I was ill.
“When you are battling cancer, there is so much else to think about that I didn’t get upset about physically losing my hair.
“But what I found quite hard was that people didn’t know I had lost my hair. Because they were so used to seeing me with my head covered, they didn’t know or forgot that anything was different.
“I think they often presumed that because I looked the same on the outside, I felt the same on the inside.
“Even on days when I might have been feeling absolutely terrible, I actually looked the same.
“I think when you go through an illness like breast cancer, you can feel very alone.
“My family and husband have been a huge support to me but I have also found great strength in accessing the services and support groups that are out there for women with breast cancer.
“The Headstrong course wasn’t just about learning how to wear a headscarf – although they did teach me different ways of wearing headscarves that I hadn’t tried before. For me, the course was also about meeting women who were going through the same illness and who understood what I was feeling.”
Farhana was 29 when she found a lump in her breast in January last year. At the time she was still breastfeeding her daughter, Noor, then aged one, so she initially believed the lump was likely to be a blocked milk duct.
She admits she and husband, Imran, 33, were shocked when tests revealed the lump was cancer.
Farhana, who is studying for a PhD in linguistics at Glasgow University, said: “When I look back now, I can’t believe I was so naive in believing that the lump couldn’t be breast cancer but it really didn’t cross my mind.
“My little girl had only just turned one and I was still breastfeeding her so I presumed the lump was something to do with that.
“Even when I was at the hospital and one test was leading to another, I was still totally unsuspecting.
“I remember at one point one of the nurses asked me if I wanted to call anyone – my husband or my mum – so I had someone with me when I got my results but I still had no alarm bells ringing.
“When the doctor told me they thought it was breast cancer, it really came as a shock.”
Farhana – who had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy – says that, 18 months on from her cancer diagnosis, she knows she is still battling to regain her full strength.
But she wants to use part of the strength she has regained to raise awareness of breast cancer and the support services available, particularly for women in Scotland’s Asian community.
She said: “Because many Muslim women remain covered up and regard their breasts as a very private part of a woman’s body, they don’t want to talk about breast cancer.
“Not many Asian ladies access services like Breast Cancer Care, which means they are missing out on everything from forums to support groups with other women going through the same thing.
“I know it is a cultural thing but, to raise awareness of breast cancer, we have to be able to talk about it.” She added: “I want to be a face for Muslim women with breast cancer – and also highlight that it is not only an older woman’s disease.
“If I can model some of the headscarf styles I have learned too, then all the better.”
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