Lisa's story
I always thought of myself as healthy. Before my diagnosis I had been working hard on myself and felt the happiest, healthiest and strongest I had ever been. Life was good with my little family. It was my 40th birthday year and I had so much planned.
In June 2023, five months after turning 40, I found a lump in my left breast while doing my normal check in the shower. Panic instantly set in and I made an appointment with my GP. When I first saw my doctor, I was reassured it was probably nothing serious because of my age, but I was still referred on the two-week pathway. I received a call a few days later to be seen at the breast clinic, and I was grateful they got me in so quickly. After my mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy, I was told they were confident it was cancer there and then, but we would need to wait for the results to know exactly what type it was. Two weeks later, the consultant confirmed the diagnosis. In that moment my world flipped on its head. I had a six-year-old little boy at home and my fight instinct kicked in immediately.
My cancer was triple positive breast cancer. I had surgery to remove the tumour in August 2023, and thankfully my lymph nodes were clear, but I still needed intensive treatment. In October 2023 I started chemotherapy — three rounds of EC (the red devil) followed by nine rounds of paclitaxel. This was followed by radiotherapy in early 2024, Herceptin injections for a year, and then a year of Neratinib tablets, which I have recently completed. I am now two years into a planned 10-year course of hormone therapy, with monthly Zoladex injections and daily letrozole tablets, which has put me into medical menopause. Because my cancer had a higher risk of recurrence, my oncologist recommended this treatment plan to do everything possible to reduce the risk of it returning.
Chemotherapy was brutal and took so much from me, both physically and emotionally. Losing my hair was incredibly hard and I didn’t recognise the person looking back at me in the mirror. I felt like I had lost my identity. But to my little boy I was still just his mummy, and that kept me going.
My instinct was to share my journey to raise awareness. I was shocked by how many women my age didn’t check their breasts. I set up an Instagram page, which became a lifeline, connecting me with an incredible community — the club nobody wants to join, but one that brings so much support. Even with wonderfully supportive friends and family around me, cancer can still be a very lonely place to be, and I will always be grateful for the people I met online who truly understood.
Since my diagnosis I have taken part in fundraising events for Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel.
Cancer changes your relationship with time. I no longer put off the things I want to do.
I spent a long time trying to get back to the person I was before cancer, but she isn’t there anymore — and that’s ok. Healing isn’t linear. I’m learning to move forward, rebuilding and appreciating life in a way I never did before.
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