4d (edited) • General discussion
My story
All the women in my family had breast cancer.
So I asked my GP for an early mammogram. I was refused.
Then one day — plot twist — I get a letter inviting me onto a study for early screening. I booked it immediately.
Felt totally fine. No lumps. No symptoms.Then came the dreaded recall.
The leaflet said something like: “Of 12 women recalled, only 1 will have to have further testing and treatment.”
As the waiting room emptied… I realised I was winning a competition I absolutely did not enter.
Biopsy followed. They literally shot metal markers into my boob to flag a 6cm tumour. Then — just to finish me off — another mammogram that hurt like hell.
I cried all the way through.
Moral of the story? Trust your gut. Book a scan if you can. Never ignore a call for a mammogram! And never assume “feeling fine” means you are.
Turns out I did have breast cancer.
Because the tumour was high up, I was told a lumpectomy “wouldn’t cut it.” (Yes, I appreciate the accidental pun now.)
I was referred to Mr Simon Wood at Charing Cross — apparently one of the best. I absolutely fell on my feet.
Summer was a blur of tests and lymph node surgery. Then September came. The big one. I was terrified.
The operation was meant to take six hours. It took ten and a half.
The next day, Mr Wood explained they’d struggled to extract the veins from my stomach muscles to rebuild my chest.
Who knew I had elite-level abs? Shame they showed up at the wrong time.
The pain was brutal. I was bent double because they’d taken so much from my tummy. For months I genuinely wondered if I’d ever stand straight again.
But by day three? I decided cancer was not getting the last word.
I shuffled to the shower with my drain bottles in a plastic bag, one arm barely working, sat on a chair and took forever to wash. Then I blow-dried my hair. Did my make-up. Nearly three hours of determination.
When the surgeon arrived with his students, they didn’t recognise me.
I was discharged on day five — two days early.
I’ve done this journey with positivity, stubbornness and a slightly inappropriate sense of humour.
Lets all do the same!
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My story
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TIT happens! A group for breast cancer fighters and survivors with attitude. Let's help each other with humour.
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