Like Jessie J, I was told I had early breast cancer

Metro

3 days ago

It is almost five years to the day since I heard those utterly unforgettable words on April 16, 2020: You have breast cancer.
Sadly, I am far from alone. This morning, 37-year-old singer-songwriter and mother-of-one, Jessie J, revealed her own breast cancer diagnosis via Instagram.
I recall my own experience so vividly. I remember screaming at the doctor that I was far too young, fit and healthy for this to be happening. Except it was happening. And to me.
I was 41. At the time, my daughter was five, my son was 11 months, and we had just gone into the first Covid lockdown.
Half a decade on, hard as I try hard to crack on with life, reading Jessie J's news brings it all flooding back.
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While I was told that I had triple negative breast cancer – sometimes described as a faster-growing type – I was also told, like Jessie, that it had been discovered 'early.'
Once you've found out you've got breast cancer, it's hard to seek solace in almost anything. Yet I was able to take at least a little comfort from medics repeatedly telling me that if you are diagnosed early (known as 'stage 1 to 2'), the disease is often highly treatable.
Early breast cancer is more commonly known as stage 1 or 2 breast cancer.
Stage 1 or 2 breast cancer is then further divided into stages 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. Which stage you are diagnosed with depends on whether the cancer is bigger than 2cm or 5cm, and whether it has spread to the lymph nodes, how many and where.
Common symptoms include a lump in the breast or armpit, skin dimpling or a change in texture, unusual nipple discharge, nipple changes, and changes in breast size or shape.
You can find out more from Cancer Research UK here.
Jessie herself has said she is 'holding on' to the word 'early'.
The staging system is worked out based on certain factors, such as the size of the cancer, and whether it has spread to lymph nodes in the armpit. (Mine was a little bigger than 5cm overall, but very fortunately, hadn't spread).
Prior to getting diagnosed, I was in really good health. I'd been vegetarian since the age of nine, had never smoked, and did exercise most days. There was also no family history of it.
But as I have come to understand in the wake of all this, cancer does not discriminate, even when you're a world-famous celebrity. I, and Jessie, are simply two of the unlucky ones.
I made the appointment to get myself checked out after finding a lump on my left breast while sitting in the bath a few weeks into lockdown. At the time, I remember thinking it was more just precautionary, as opposed to anything else.
At first, even the consultant wasn't too concerned, suggesting it might just be a sporting injury. But the scans soon told a very different story.
After going through a blur of mammograms and ultrasounds – and having several biopsies taken – it was confirmed that I was going to need chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery.
One of the toughest summers of my life followed. I underwent a gruelling four-month chemotherapy regime – consisting of Paclitaxel and Carboplatin – as well as an intense two-week course of daily radiotherapy.
And in the midst of all that, I had an operation known as a 'therapeutic mammoplasty.' While this is not as major as a mastectomy, it is more involved than a lumpectomy. It essentially involves surgeons removing the tumour, but trying to save as much of the breast as possible.
To paraphrase the words of Jessie J in her heart-wrenchingly honest and emotional Instagram video: 'I got to keep my nipples.'
In October 2020, I got the 'all-clear' (or at least the closest thing you get to an 'all-clear' as far as cancer is concerned – as once you've had this disease, you never really get to walk away).
All I can say to Jessie J – and anyone going through any version of this gruelling journey right now – is that I am forever grateful to my body for making it through all of this.
It may look a little different these days, but I am still here – working full-time, being a mum to two high-octane kids now aged nine and six, playing netball, lifting weights, sea swimming and so much more – and I have my body to thank for that. I have also learned to love my boobs all over again.
Jessie J mentioned how she had gone 'back and forth' on sharing her story. Having gone through this life-changing experience, I applaud her bravery and honesty.
I am always keen to share mine because by opening myself up and by being vulnerable and brutally honest, I hope I can show the solidarity Jessie speaks of, and maybe even offer a little help to others going through something similar.
I also believe that if reading my story gets even one woman to do a breast examination or schedule an appointment, then some good has come out of all I've been through. I can't say it bluntly enough: Checking your boobs could save your life.
Hard as it is to write these words, catching breast cancer in its early stages really can be the difference between surviving – and not. Get a tumour removed at an early stage, and there's a far better chance of things going well.
In April this year, I reached my fifth year since diagnosis, a not insignificant milestone in my journey, as doctors say that at this stage post treatment, the risk seems to go back down (though the increased risk does not go away completely). More Trending
To mark this five-year anniversary, I did a host of fundraising events, including a 'Mighty Hike' along the Cornish coast in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, raising almost £3,000.
And, on April 16 itself, I went to the beach – here, where I live, in beautiful north Devon – with my husband and children, and watched the waves lap against the shore. I also hugged them all hard. Very, very hard.
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I hope and wish that Jessie J will get to do the same.
Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing [e-mail].
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