Breast cancer isn't always a lump

If these faces look familiar it might be that you’ve seen them on a bus or poster near you! These brave women – who have all had breast cancer – agreed to front our NHS campaign in east Kent. Kim, Jane, Rachel, Sam and Sally all have a different story to tell you but their message is the same – anyone who notices a change in their breast should see their GP straightaway.

We’d like to dedicate this issue to our wonderful Sally. This gorgeous woman sadly developed secondary breast cancer, and died before our campaign was launched. She was just 37. But in her last email to us Sally said – ‘maybe my image can inspire others to check themselves out before it goes too far and becomes incurable’.

We’d like to thank her family who also wanted Sally’s story told in the hope it will help other women. Interviews: Julia Rogers and Jo Treharne

Jane's story

Jane Chapman didn’t have a lump – just a searing pain that refused to go away. At first the 50 year old Government worker dismissed it as a symptom of the menopause.

But when the pain didn’t go away after five days, Jane, who lives in Ash, near Canterbury, went to see her GP. She said: “I had always been mindful I should feel my breasts for lumps but I couldn’t feel anything.

The doctors thought it was mastitis and later a deep seated abyss.” Despite strong antibiotics and painkillers, the pain got worse and Jane persisted in going back to her GP.

She said: “It got to the point I couldn’t even touch that side of my body it was so unbelievably painful. I asked to be referred. I went with my husband to see the consultant and he was confident I didn’t have the big c, but agreed to give me a scan to try and put my mind at rest.

Every woman knows her own body and I was convinced something wasn’t right.” A week later Jane had an ultrasound, followed by a biopsy and mammogram. “I got to the hospital, lay down on the bed for my ultrasound and the nurse ran the thing over my breast.

I looked at the screen and there was a black mass. It was sitting on my chest wall, pressing on a nerve.” Jane’s husband tried to reassure her she would be okay and the following week they returned for the results.

She said: “My consultant’s face said it all. He said, ‘Jane I’m afraid I have to tell you, you have cancer and I have to operate immediately as it’s very aggressive’. Then I just saw his mouth move.

It hit me, bang, like a full speed train. The fact I couldn’t control it and I’m a woman of control. I was afraid. I was angry. I guess my world crashed."

We went outside and my husband burst into tears, which he never does. I think I just told him to drive.

A series of tests including an MRI scan, confirmed Jane had triple negative cancer and surgeons removed Jane’s tumour and a hot node, under her arms. Jane then had a mastectomy, nine lymph nodes removed, a course of chemotherapy and 25 sessions of radiotherapy.

She said: “I would be lying if I said the treatment was pleasant, I’m probably one of the biggest wusses out. But it wasn’t as bad as all the horror stories I heard. “I lost my hair 15 days into having chemo and I thought I would grieve for it but I actually found it liberating! I probably look like a man but I don’t give a stuff. I’m still here – and it’s all about living.”

Her advice to all women is: “Listen to the signs of your body. Most people know their own body but everyone’s story is different. If you are worried about something, I would strongly recommend you go to your GP to do something about it. Be assertive.”

What is triple negative breast cancer? It is an aggressive form and means that the growth of the cancer is not supported by the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

This means it does not respond to hormonal therapy such as Herceptin. However, other medicines can be used to treat triple negative breast cancer. About ten to 20 per cent of breast cancers are found to be triplenegative.

Sam's story

Sam first noticed the marble like lump in her breast while putting on body lotion after coming out of the shower. “A couple of days later I asked my husband if he thought it felt different. He said it felt like a marble and told me to go to my GP. I didn’t want to waste my GP’s time,” said Sam, 39, from Canterbury.

But she did as she was told and was referred by her GP to the breast clinic at Kent and Canterbury. She said: “A week later I went back for the results and was told I had breast cancer.

It was surreal. Like it wasn’t happening to me. I cried. I was worried about telling people.

But I remember trying to keep cheerful and asking the Macmillan nurse if I could go home and have a glass of wine! “I didn’t feel all doom and gloom.

They reassured me it was treatable and I had caught it early, so I felt quite positive from the outset.”

Two weeks later, on 24 May, Sam had a lumpectomy. Sam said: “My husband was fantastic. It upset him greatly but he won’t always show it. He was a rock for me and I couldn’t have got through it without him.

I had six lots of chemo, then 18 radiotherapy sessions and that was it. I had triple negative cancer so no more treatment for me.” She added: “The chemo wasn’t bad as you think it’s going to be.

It didn’t have very nice side effects, but there’s always bonuses like saving on shampoo and stuff. “I don’t think I have changed that much. I really loved my life before I had cancer. This isn’t going to change anything. I don’t want it to be part of my life.

It’s done and dusted. “Cancer is in the past. I tend to live life and have fun.”

Sally's story

Sally Maggs, 37, was just coming to the end of her first placement as part of her PGCE teacher training course when she noticed something amiss. “I felt something sore, like a thickening under my left armpit. It felt a bit like a blocked hair follicle,” she said.

“My own mum had died from breast cancer at 35 when I was just 12 years old – so I suppose I was much more sensitive about these things, or perhaps just more aware.

I went to the GP quite quickly and explained my fears about my family history. He said to me, ‘I’ll lay £100 on the table here and now and bet you it’s not breast cancer.’ But he sent me to the one stop clinic for a mammogram, just to be sure.”

The mammogram was inconclusive, so Sally was given an ultrasound scan in the area where she felt sore, followed by a biopsy, which showed that there was a problem.

Sally recalled: “I was supposed to pick up the results in person but because of all the heavy snow I telephoned instead. They told me that the biopsy had shown signs of cancer. I had an MRI scan that showed a stage one tumour around 4cm in size.

Obviously I was massively upset by the news – especially as I had lost my own mum to breast cancer. My immediate thought was that I wouldn’t survive. But my upset and anger soon turned to bloody mindedness.

I had to beat the disease. I took the decision to have a mastectomy, but not everyone is comfortable with that, it’s always a personal decision. One year later and I’m about to recommence my teacher training course and carry on with my life.”

Because of her family history Sally – who also suffered from arthritis – had always been an active fundraiser for cancer charities. Just two weeks after completing the 2011 London Marathon, Sally was rushed into hospital with suspected meningitis.

After being sent for investigation at Kings' College Hospital London, she was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in the lining of her spinal fluid.

Sally died in May, a few months after taking part in the campaign photoshoot and giving this interview, but her husband Roger and daughter Isabelle, nine, were keen the campaign should still go ahead.

Roger said: “Sally wanted to spread the word about the importance of being breast aware, so she was delighted to be involved in the campaign.

When she took part in the photoshoot she had been through a huge amount of treatment and we thought she had beaten the cancer. However, she had talked to us about how proud she was to take part in the campaign, so we knew that it should go ahead even though she’s no longer with us. We’re very proud of her and in this campaign her legacy and memory lives on.”

Kim's story

Kim Richards can’t remember where she was when she noticed the lump – but admits she ignored it. “It was fear that made me ignore it.

My daughter was seven at the time and I was terrified of having to tell her. “Three months later I checked again and it was bigger. Then I thought I better get it checked,” she said. Kim, who lives in Margate, was referred to Margate hospital and eight days later had a mammogram and biopsy.

She said: “As soon as I walked into the room and my consultant Miss Sharp was sitting there with the breast care nurse, I knew. Even though it wasn’t a surprise, I did cry.”

After more tests, Kim was told she had an aggressive cancer but could choose between a lumpectomy or mastectomy. “I said no, ‘just take it all. My life is more important than my breast’.”

Four weeks later Kim had had the mastectomy. This was followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy plus 18 months of Herceptin. Kim has now had a breast and nipple reconstruction and is looking forward to her wedding in April next year.

She said: “My advice would be the moment you feel anything – go to your GP. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, they’ve seen it all before. “As for being frightened, when I did tell my daughter she said – ‘it’s only breast cancer mum, you’ll be fine’. And thanks to treatment, she was right.”

Rachel's story

Rachel Beck, 43, was just putting her seat belt on when her arm brushed against something that felt like a lump. “My stomach flipped. I had checked before but I hadn’t felt anything. I don’t know if it was the way I was sitting but I could feel a lump,” she said.

“People were talking in the car but I couldn’t hear them. When I got home later I couldn’t feel it but I still had that nagging feeling.” A nervous Rachel booked an appointment to see her GP.

“I complained about my feet, then something else, then something else, and then right at the end I said, ‘oh, I’ve got this lump’.” Rachel, from Deal, was sent to Margate hospital for an ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy.

“I still didn’t think anything was wrong,” she said. “I’d taken my sister and I thought we’d combine the trip with a bit of shopping. When they said I had breast cancer I said I couldn’t possible have it. I thought I’m not in pain, I’m not poorly.

Rachel’s story I’m a mum of two, I can’t be ill. “Inside I was thinking, ‘this isn’t really happening’. I’m going to wake up any minute. This is an awful dream. But I didn’t wake up and it was happening to me.”

Due to the size of Rachel’s lump, she was advised to have a mastectomy. She said: “The hospital was fantastic. The appointments came in, biopsy after biopsy to make sure they could deal with it. Within four weeks I’d had a mastectomy.

I didn’t have to worry because I knew I was having the best possible treatment and everyone was so nice. The breast care nurse was brilliant, it never occurred to me I wouldn’t survive.” In March this year, Rachel had a reconstruction and her other breast reduced in size.

“I now have beautiful pert breasts that stick up when I lie down,” she laughed. “I’ve got a new body and it was free!” But Rachel knows how important it was she acted straightaway when she felt the lump.

She said: “If I had thought that day, oh the lump’s gone now, I won’t go to the GP, in all honestly I wouldn’t be sitting here now. My children would not have a mum, my husband wouldn’t have a wife and I wouldn’t be having the most amazing time meeting the most amazing people.

I’m not even scared of spiders anymore. I’m not scared of anything, because I beat cancer.”