The Marie Keating Foundation is an Irish foundation focused on raising the awareness of cancer, and the importance of early detection and providing a range of support services for patients at every step of a cancer journey. The charity was founded in 2001 by the Keating Family including

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...

, and is one of the largest national cancer charities in Ireland. The charity receives very little Government funding and relies mainly on fundraising and donations to continue to provide its free cancer support and education services. Initially focussing on breast cancer, the charity organisation has expanded in recent years to cancer information, awareness and support for all forms of cancer for both men and women.

History and present day

Marie's cancer diagnosis and death

In 1994 Keating experienced

breast pain Breast pain is the symptom of discomfort in either one or both breasts. Pain in both breasts is often described as ''breast tenderness'', is usually associated with the menstrual period and is not serious. Pain that involves only one part of a b ...

and her doctor diagnosed her with

mastitis Mastitis is inflammation of the breast or udder, usually associated with breastfeeding. Symptoms typically include local pain and redness. There is often an associated fever and general soreness. Onset is typically fairly rapid and usually occ ...

, providing her with a prescription for

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

and telling her to come back if the pain persisted. As she was afraid of hospitals, she did not return for follow-up care even though she was in pain. She discovered a

breast lump A breast mass, also known as a breast lump, is a localized Swelling (medical), swelling that feels different from the surrounding tissue (biology), tissue. Breast pain, nipple discharge, or skin changes may be present. Concerning findings include ...

, and her doctor immediately sent her to Beaumont Hospital in the north of Dublin city for a

biopsy A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample ...

where she was told that it was cancer even before tests were run. Over a year and a half later, on , Marie was diagnosed with

Paget's disease of the breast Paget's disease of the breast (also known as mammary Paget's disease) is a rare skin change at the nipple nearly always associated with underlying breast cancer. Paget's disease of the breast was first described by Sir James Paget in 1874. The c ...

which developed into

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

as it was not detected early enough. Although this was a shock to both her and her family, she underwent a full

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...

the following month and began

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatment. A year later, in September 1997, she was told that the cancer had gone but, because she rarely did her exercises, she developed

lymphedema Lymphedema, also known as lymphoedema and lymphatic edema, is a condition of localized edema, swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. The lymphatic system functions as a critical portion of the body's immune system and returns inters ...

in her legs, and in the following month, she began to experience

back pain Back pain (Latin: ''dorsalgia'') is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area ...

and returned to hospital. An

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...

scan revealed that she had cancer along her

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

so she began

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...

which she had completed in January 1998. On , Marie Keating died from breast cancer which had spread to various parts of her body, aged 51.

Marie Keating Foundation

After her death, the charity was founded in her memory by her family including daughter Linda, sons, Ronan, Gary, Gerard, Ciaran and her husband Gerry, in 1998 initially giving advice and support to those diagnosed with breast cancer. As it grew, it has expanded to cancer information, awareness and support services for all forms of cancer for both men and women. It was registered on May 4, 2001 (2001-05-04).

References

{{Reflist Charities based in Ireland