Kristin in China before her diagnosis

A YOUNG woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just 23 has spoken to Tside about how she is battling to overcome the killer disease.

Kristen Hallenga found a lump in her breast last year, and after tests doctors discovered a 6cm by 9cm tumor and a tumour on her spine.

Now the brave 24-year-old has set up a charity and is touring the country to raise awareness about breast cancer in young people.

Kristin said: ” I had an incredible out of body experience where I was watching this horrible moment unfold infront of my eyes, but it wasn’t actually me being told that I had cancer. Geez, it’s really hard to explain.

“Let’s just say, there is no other feeling in this world that compares to finding out you have a life threatening disease. When I could think, it was ‘I’m 23, I’m going to die’.”

Eight months earlier Kristin had visited her GP after she became worried about her breast becoming lumpy and painful. The symptoms were put down to Kristin’s hormones and she was told to take Evening Primrose Oil.

After being told that her problems were purely hormonal Kristin went on a 6 month trip to China however when she returned home she returned to her GP with seering pain in her breast and armpit, with more lumps appearing in her breast.

The day after she’d returned from China she went back to her doctor’s surgery only for her doctor who questioned: “You were examined six months ago weren’t you?” and to tell her she was “fine and still hormonal”. Her mother accompanied her to her next appointment and a week later had to demand a referral to a specialist, which her GP reluctantly agreed.

After a month Kristin found out that she was in stage IV, the most advanced stage of cancer.  Chemotherapy began and Kristin was left wondering why this had happened to her.

“One week after my first chemotherapy treatment it dawned on me one day that I had never known I could get breast cancer at my age and decided that was RIDICULOUS,” Kristin explained.

Instead of giving up and just getting on with treatment Kristin jumped into her battle with cancer with a fighting attitude determined to not let her cancer get the better of her.

“I needed to know why and how that was…so I googled young women’s breast cancer awareness and there was NOTHING for the UK. And so Coppafeel! was born.

“I got all my friends over and we brainstormed three days before all my hair came out. The rest, as they say, is history,” Kirsten explained

The Coppafeel! Logo catches the eye of the young people out there which is exactly what Kristin wanted to happen and her team goes out and talks to young men and women informally but frankly about how breast cancer CAN affect younger generations as cancer doesn’t discriminate.

The website is jam packed full of facts and how to check your breasts for anything abnormal and any give away signs that you may want to go and get checked out by your own doctor.

Kristin and her team of “monkeys” are currently travelling around the UK to raise awareness of breast cancer in young people urging them to regularly check themselves for any changes that may appear. Over summer they also hope to attend festivals to spread the message to hundreds more.

Along side telling people of the disease many people are fundraising for the charity some traditionally running, selling cakes and sponsored bike rides. However one bold student; Fran Bridgeland shaved her hair off to spread the message that cancer doesn’t just affect the older generations.

Kristin at the Coppafeel Christmas Party

Kristin at the Pride of Britain awards with her Mum Jane, Twin sister Maren and older sister Maike.

Kristin is incredibly proud of the fact that just seven months after setting up the site winning a Pride of Britain award has been the highlight of the whole experience so far.

“I’m so proud that the message was spread to 6.6 million within a couple of minutes! Goes to show how important and vital our message is and I’m proud of my team for getting us there!”

Breast cancer can affect anyone from any walk of life, and is sometimes seen as a private or taboo topic to talk about Coppafeel! is all about changing the nature of the topic especially to those who believe breast cancer wouldn’t affect them.

Coppafeel! is set to expand even further in 2010 and will be spreading the word as much as possible.

“The charity is my life now and I will give it everything to make sure people know to be boob aware! I plan to be more active and will be taking part in the Moonwalk in May with Dawn Porter. I also plan to go to Mongolia when a team of boys will be driving a 4×4 out there in the name of Boobs! The list of things to do this year is endless!”

Kristin’s extremely passionate about spreading the word of the breast cancer to young women AND men everywhere.

“It really helps to release anger, frustration and misery that is quite often associated with this bum hole of a disease! It goes without saying that it’s important to stay positive and just take each day as it comes. I don’t plan anything anymore, there’s no point, no one knows what could happen from one day to the next – especially with secondary breast cancer BUT I have to say this should go for ANYONE! Quit taking life for granted!”

Follow Coppafeel! on Twitter , Facebook or YouTube.

To sp0nsor Kristin, Dawn and the fellow Moonwalkers click here.

The National Student Volunteering Week takes place every year. This year  it took place from the 22nd – 26th of February and  Tside decided to go and check it out!

During  the National Volunteering Week a wide selection of organisations have been based on campus welcoming curious students that want to find out more about volunteering and how they can get involved and make a difference in their local communities.

Each day has been around a specific theme such as Children and young people, Crime, Elderly/General and Disability/General. Amongst the over two dozen organisations participating Tside found Community Voice FM, Victim Support, Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice and  Tees Music Alliance.

Teesside student Lee Maddison, one of many who decided to check it out said: “National Student Volunteering Week is a great idea,  It is a time when a real drive can be made to make people aware of volunteering. I for one will be registering! It not only provides a platform to get in to areas that may interest you but also provides an extra attraction to employers on your C.V. Good stuff!”

Curious students have been able to speak to staff from each organisation by visiting the information stalls set up in the Clarendon building.

The event which is organised by Volunteering England but is linked with  VolunTees – an online site who helps organisations promote volunteering opportunities for students and staff at Teesside University. Registration on VolunTees is free and users receive their own profile where they can describe their interests and search for exciting volunteering opportunities near their homes.

So far VolunTees has 800 members and counting, so don’t delay- join the fun and register today!

My charity shop scarf

I was strolling down Linthorpe Road today on my way to McDonalds, when something shiny caught my eye.

What was it?

Teesside Hospice Charity Chic Boutique.

Now why had this never caught my eye before?

Had I suddenly fallen behind in the fashion stakes?

Or was it simply a brand new shop?

I don’t know but I had to go in!

I ventured down there this afternoon, excited about what I might find. I was expecting lots of designer lovelies at purse-friendly prices but disappointingly, on this occasion, that’s not what I found, although I did pick up a gorgeous scarf.

The window displays were amazing and that’s what tempted me in. Sadly I couldn’t find anything in the shop resembling the quality of the window display. Perhaps I should have just been cheeky and asked for the clothes on the mannequins.

The shop itself is lovely, it used to be a designer childrenswear store called Angels. When that closed down the shop fittings were left over, leaving a stunning blank canvas for Teesside Hospice to move into.

Maybe I didn’t spend long enough in the shop or look hard enough, but I struggled to find designer and instead found plenty of other people’s unwanted bits and pieces.

Now there’s nothing wrong with good old High Street fashions and obviously most of what is donated to charity shops is going to come from there, it’s just the items for sale didn’t meet my expectations of ’boutique’ bargains.

Anyway I shouldn’t criticise the charity and to be fair I did find some cute bits of jewellery and a couple of nice scarves. I bought one of the scarves, for a bargain-busting £2.

And I will keep popping in, in the hope of finding something fabulously fashionable and ’boutique’ – it is for charity after all!

However when I was a little girl I always insisted to my Mum that I NEEDED to give some money to anyone that was holding a charity tin. I was never a child that hated that my Mum gave me money to put in. I LOVED the feeling that I was helping someone else. This carried on up until about two years ago, every Friday on my way to college I would donate atleast 30p to Little old man from The Samaritan’s  just because I thought he looked adorable in his uniform. In return I’d get a free paper that I’d throw into the bin a few hundred yards away from him.

During the recession, charity isn’t at the forefront of everyones mind. I know it hasn’t been at mine. I’ll even be the first to admit that these days when I’m approached by someone in the street to try and get me to donate money to any charity I’ll tell them that I already donate to their charity. What I don’t know is where I began to think that I didn’t want to donate my money, where I became selfish and decided that all my money was infact for just me.

Now I’m not going to claim that I’m a millionaire or I’m a brilliant saver but would 50p every now and again really hurt my pocket? I manage to spend atleast £20 on hot chocolates from coffee companies every month and sometimes a few more when I walk past the Costa in the train station.  If I cut back on the hot chocolates that I could make myself at home for alot less I could save that money.

While a friend of mine recently longed to have longer hair she spotted some Jessica Simpson hair extentions, as she got closer to the window to have a look to see how much they were she saw a woman inside being fitted for a wig, she needed a wig because she’d had chemotherapy.

Wanting to have longer hair quicker isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but my friend realised that she should be greatful for having any hair whatsoever.

Were all guilty of thinking similar things to this whether its wanting a new phone, buying new clothes or things we don’t really need.

At the age of 18 I learnt that I’d been living with a lymphatic malformation. I’d never previously heard of the condition and there wasn’t alot of research that had been done within the UK. I instantly wanted to do something. I arranged a bagpack at work and alot of people said they would help. That same bank holiday there was a music festival in Newcastle. Suddenly the tables turned. I had 5 people helping me only one of which stayed all day. I thought I’d made around £50 however I made £300 for research into the condition. I can tell you not many people like having their bags packed but even by doing a small favour you could help to change someones opinion or atleast raise a little bit of money for a good cause.

I don’t want to sound like I’m preaching to you that you should go and give away all the money you earn or you should even give up your coffee’s. I know that I won’t be giving them up anytime soon. But next time that I think that I want something I’m going to think about how much I really need it. I’m also going to think about others that could benefit better from a small donation rather than me buying yet another hot chocolate.