I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2019, at the age of 42. I didn’t feel a lump or anything in my breast, yet it just felt ‘different’. I’d say it felt slightly denser and there was just something in me, intuition maybe, that made me go and get it checked out.

I saw my doctor, who also couldn’t feel anything, and was advised to take some ibuprofen and see if it settled or if I was worried, I could be referred to the Breast Care Centre. I asked to be referred.

During the mammogram and ultrasound at the Centre, two small tumors in my left breast were found. They were stage one, grade three and hormone positive. I was lucky that I had found them when I did as I was told that it may have taken another 6 months before I would have actually felt them by touch, by which point the tumors would have likely fused and created something far nastier. I was incredibly pleased that I had acted upon my intuition.

I knew immediately that I wanted a mastectomy, which I was granted. Six lymph nodes were also removed, which thankfully were clear. Following my surgery, I then undertook a course of chemo.

I was absolutely dreading chemo. I had visions of constantly being sick, but in fact, it was the opposite. I managed the chemo ok. Yes, there were side effects, the obvious hair loss, steroid induced insomnia, taste loss, so many tablets to take, but it was manageable, and I was ok. I was able to do the school runs, I went on holiday to North Wales and even climbed Snowden with the children. I find it hard to talk about chemo as I know others don’t have the same experience, but I think it’s also good to hear slightly more positive stories and know that it’s not necessarily an awful ordeal for everyone.

As I went through my chemo, I also had genetic testing done and discovered that I’m BRCA2 positive putting me at a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Discovering this was a huge shock and being only 42, I went for elective surgery on my other breast and then later had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.