One night in July 2013, I was sitting in my comfy chair watching TV when I felt a sharp stinging pain go across my right breast. I thought that was odd but massaged away the pain and thought nothing more of it. The next morning while having my shower I remembered about the pain and did a self exam. I was familiar with self exams as I would do them fairly regularly so I felt the changes in my breast. As a result, I found a large lump at the bottom of the right breast and made a doctors appointment straight away. This followed with a mammogram, ultrasound and finally a core biopsy which showed I had invasive micropapillary carcinoma.
I had surgery, then 4 rounds of chemo, 6 weeks of radiotherapy and one year of Herceptin treatment as I was HER2 positive. I am now cancer free but will not be clear for another few years.
The one thing I am grateful for is those that consistently speak about self examination because without it I probably would not have as good an outcome. Please, please, please - check your boobies!
Melton, Victoria, Australia
