Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I should have seen my doctor sooner but I was determined that the lump was ‘just going away’. Surely it had been down to all the upset and emotion with Mum’s death… surely it was just due to my hormones being all over the place… surely it was anything other than cancer – right?…

During a meeting I find myself taking a sharp intake of breath whilst there is a piercing pain in my right breast. Can I ignore it? (as I’ve done so many times before) I’m thinking to myself, I just need a holiday and relax, surely it can’t be anything else.

I call the doctor’s surgery and speak to the lovely receptionist who immediately takes me seriously saying that of course I should see the doctor as soon as possible. She’s squeezed me in for an appointment in a couple of days time. I’m so relieved to be seeing a professional but am still convinced that he’ll just say it’s nothing, don’t worry.