Former SKE48 member Yakata Miki talks about her mastectomy and lymph node removal and her goal of wanting to live

Former SKE48 member and former Team S leader Yakata Miki (25) posted on her official blog back in April about having breast cancer and she had a mastectomy (her left breast was removed) and her post-surgery biopsy shown that her lymph node also had to be removed.

In a new interview, Yakata said that she was watching a special feature on breast cancer on TV and how to do a self-check.  She did and found a lump on her left breast and knew she should get it checked out.  She said if it wasn’t for the special, she would have never done it.

Yakata went through examinations back in December and she was found to have breast cancer.

Yakata said, “The moment when I was diagnosed, I had a hard time accepting it because I never thought I would have cancer.  I had to ask, do I really have breast cancer?  Because I had no symptoms”.

Yakata said that she did not want to accept that she had breast cancer during the initial diagnosis, so she went for another examination at another hospital, she was told that the possibility of metastasis of her lymph nodes.

According to the National Breast Cancer Organization, “Although breast cancer is not easily controlled, the spread of breast cancer is sometimes predictable. The cancer cells spread through a customary path, out from the tumor and into the surrounding lymph nodes, before they progress throughout the body. The sentinel lymph node (and in some cases there are several grouped together) is the first node “downstream” from the cancer in the lymph circulatory system. If the cancer were to travel away from the breast tumor and into the lymphatic system, this node would be the first one to show evidence of breast cancer. During surgery, the nearest lymph nodes will be removed and checked for the presence of cancer cells.”

She learned that people can have breast cancer in their 20s and she started to accept it but knew she had to get rid of the cancer immediately.

But she said it was hard because her left breast had to be completely removed and for a 25-year-old unmarried woman, it was difficult.

Yakata said, “When I got home, I was depressed and crying before I went to bed.  When I took a bath and looked at my chest, my breast is gone.  Every day, three months from the diagnosis to surgery was difficult and I kept asking myself, ‘why is this happening to me?’.

“After my surgery on April 2nd, when it was over and the first time I saw my chest, I was shocked of how big the wound was.  I was hospitalized for 10 days and I could not move my hands up due to the surgery and I was in pain.  But I was aware this would happen after surgery”.

“When I was in my hospital room, I can see people enjoying the cherry blossom and I thought that being ordinary was wonderful.  Everyone in the hospital is struggling hard to live.  And I felt that I wanted to work hard towards a bigger goal and that is ‘to live'”.

After a month of surgery, Yakata returned to entertainment activities and said she must continue treatment for a long time into the future.

Yakata said, “From now on…I wonder if I will ever get married now I don’t have a breast.  I am learning more about my illness and would be happy if if women learn from my experience in confronting breast cancer and give them a little ‘hope'”.

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