Profile: Isabel, breast cancer survivor

Isabel was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 35 – a year after opening her handmade chocolate business and when her boys were just 3 and 6.

She remembers, “My breasts are relatively small and as I lay there alone, lying on my back, I felt a tiny lump on the bottom left side of my breast. It was so small that when I stood up, I could not feel it. I wondered if it was my imagination, but as I lay back down and felt again, it was definitely there. And I started to panic. Could it possibly be breast cancer? Surely not. It was such a tiny lump. I had no other symptoms, in fact I felt great. I was 34 years old, fit, strong, healthy and most definitely not sick. Yet, I still could not sleep. I just had this bad feeling that would not go away. I keep feeling the lump.

“When I woke up in the morning, I knew the lump was most definitely there. I went to the doctor that same day. He immediately examined my breast and after a few minutes, he assured me that it was nothing at all to be worried about. He believed that it was a fibroid or a cyst. He said that if I was still worried about it or that if it was still there in 3 to 6 months that I could come back to him again and maybe get a mammogram. Yet he gave me the impression that it would be gone by then and that a mammogram was really an over-reaction at this stage. And I was delighted. He was a doctor and if he said it was nothing, then it was nothing.

“Normal life resumed, but the lump, remained. A friend encouraged Isobel to seek a second opinion. She did, and said she wanted a mammogram as soon as possible. “I think perhaps people thought I was being a bit of a drama queen but I made no apologies.”

But she wasn’t being dramatic, in fact, she had cancer. She underwent a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, followed by 6 months of chemotherapy and then 6 weeks of daily radiotherapy.

It’s now 8 years later and Isobel is doing really well and encourages others to be vigilant, and if something doesn’t feel right, trust your gut and get it checked. She also writes a blog thecancerqueenbee.com and talks about her cancer experience.

If you are worried about cancer talk to your GP or call our Freephone Cancer Nurseline 1800 200 700.