I’d love to be able to tell you I found out about the cancer because I checked myself regularly but it’s really not the case. I did check myself, every now and again in the shower, but like most people wasn’t really sure what I was looking for but presumed I’d know if I found it.

The truth is I only found out about this cancer through pure luck/good fortune/fate….whatever you believe in, but my case is probably unusual, so please do check yourselves every month and don’t ever delay your mammograms.

It was the first week of the school summer holidays and we had just arrived in beautiful St Ives. It was our second night there and I was getting changed for bed when I suddenly noticed a pea=sized hard lump on the edge of my left nipple. I had never seen it before and it was as though it had literally appeared overnight. I remember clearly dashing from the bedroom to the lounge, boobs swinging, pointing to my breast and saying to Dave ‘What the %&£$ is that?’

I was immediately filled with panic and went to see a GP in St Ives (I think they only gave me an appointment because I started crying when they asked me what was wrong). The doctor I saw was lovely and she advised me to see my own doctor as soon as I returned home.

It was difficult to put that to the back of my mind during the rest of our holiday, but I did and had a great week. I am not a worrier by nature and try to work on the basis of ‘no point in worrying about what you don’t know’ – it worked that week, but let’s hope I can keep it up for the next 12 months.

I visited my own GP on my return who advised that I get the lump checked out and referred me to the Helen Ley unit at Warwick Hospital. On the worry front I was still doing ok until the appointment letter turned up (about a week later) with a leaflet about Breast Cancer and then I think the reality of what we might be facing hit home. I allowed my head to consider cancer, I had to, just in case. When  I did consider it, the only thing I could think of was ‘I have to live at least 10 years for my boys’.

The letter said to leave 2 hours for the appointment and as it happened it fell on one of my work days (I’m part time and work Wednesday to Friday each week). I didn’t want to delay in any way so accepted the appointment and had to let my boss know that I would be ‘off grid’ for a couple of hours. He was great and we both acknowledged that it was ‘probably precautionary’ and we were ‘sure it would all be fine’.

Little did we know……..