Balogun’s journey to England debut after cancer diagnosisImage source, ShutterstockImage caption, Christiana Balogun made her England Red Roses debut during this years’ Six NationsBySophie Hurcom, BBC Sport England, West and Alistair Durden, BBC Points WestPublished2 hours agoChristiana Balogun had the date 4 November, 2022 printed on her boots as she ran out for England during their win against Italy in the Women’s Six Nations on her international debut. It marks the day that Balogun finished her final round of chemotherapy after being diagnosed earlier that year with burkitt lymphoma – an aggressive, fast-growing type of cancer.”The IV chemo was the biggest thing, it’s what gave me the biggest side-effects and after that finished I was like, ‘OK let’s go, we’re on the home straight now’,” Balogun told BBC Points West.”It’s a date that I hold very close to me and ‘cancer free’ was underneath that as well.” The back-row forward had just moved from Wasps to Bristol in May 2022 when she found a lump in her neck. She was 24 years old, finding her feet after relocating to a new city, in pre-season training ahead of the 2022-23 campaign and undergoing testing to determine what the lump was when three months later she found out it was cancer.Balogun hadn’t even had played for the Bears for the first time when her career and life were thrown upside down.”The day I found out my diagnosis I started treatment six days later so there wasn’t a lot of time to process what was happening, what I was going through,” Balogun mentioned.Doctors told Balogun to pack a bag for a week stay in hospital to begin treatment and she even packed her rugby kit, initially believing she’d be able to continue with training.”When I think back to it now I’m just like that is the most ridiculous thing to have ever done, you’ve literally found out you have cancer and you think you are going to train on Monday after is absolutely insane,” Balogun mentioned.”On reflection that is probably a little bit of me not accepting the diagnosis that I had at the time and just thought about the rugby, the rugby, the rugby.”Figure caption, Christiana Balogun speaks to BBC Radio Bristol after making her England debutWhat followed was three rounds of intense chemotherapy. As well losing her hair, side-effects also included itching, colds and flu because her immune system was compromised, mouth ulcers and blood transfusions which left her physically drained of energy.But the mental toll was just as tough, if not tougher.”Emotionally it was difficult because I had just moved to Bristol, I didn’t have any close or long-term friends in Bristol, I had to really attach myself to people I had only really made friends with a couple of months prior,” Balogun mentioned. “I didn’t have any family in Bristol either – I found it quite isolating.”Balogun finished her treatment that winter and was given the all-clear in January 2023 but picking up her life and career after and returning to what things were like before the diagnosis was far from simple. “You don’t look like yourself anymore when you lose your hair on your head and your face – having no eyebrows, no eyelashes,” Balogun mentioned.”Physically I experienced a lot of weight gain and as an athlete my identity was a little bit all over the place.”The mental effects of chemotherapy topped the physical side effects of it. You think you’ve finished treatment, you’ve had three months block of it and you’re like, ‘OK cool I’m done, I can go back to what I was doing before,’ but that’s not the case. “You essentially have to re-find yourself again and mourn the person you were before the treatment.”Balogun signs new Bristol Bears contract
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Published7 May
