Gemma’s Story
Gemma, a 42 year old mum of two, married, with two young children, was diagnosed the 18th July 2024 with stage 3 advanced breast cancer. It came out of nowhere and turned her world upside down in a matter of days. Raising awareness has now become a mission for Gemma, follow her on her Instagram account Utter_ducking_nonsense
“Finding out I had breast cancer, and it had progressed to my lymph nodes was like having an out of body experience, I didn’t believe it was me they were talking about - for weeks, even still now.”
How did you discover something unusual?
I was showering and felt something. It was very low down under my left boob so it didn't raise any big alarms for me in that moment.
We’re you checking yourself regularly before being diagnosed?
No. I did have a feel now and then but I didn’t know how important it was to check monthly and to consciously log it. I guess I occasionally thought about breast cancer, but did I think I’d ever find anything - never.
Can you describe your treatment plan?
My breast cancer was hormone receptor positive and HER2 negative which meant that I could choose surgery before or after chemo. My surgeon told us that either way I would have to have a mastectomy, so I decided I’d like it done before chemo, to get it out of me and to avoid being wiped out from chemo and then having to have major surgery. On the 11th August I had a 12 hour surgery in London to remove my left breast, reconstruct using my tummy fat, and I had a full removal of 26 lymph nodes, 7 of which were cancerous. My surgeon also offered us a new procedure (we had to pay for) that would reduce my chances of getting lymphedema to less than 1%. He thought he would only take 4 lymph nodes but once he was operating, he saw my cancer had progressed and went for full removal. This would have meant I would have 100% got lymphedema if it wasn’t for this new Lymph procedure that he offered me. Everything happens for a reason right?
Can you tell us more about what was found?
It was in my left boob, right underneath/at the bottom. I honestly thought it was the top of a rib or bone of some kind because it was so low down and long. Silly I know, but I’m only 42, so it couldn't be anything nasty. My husband insisted I still get it checked, so I tagged it onto a GP appointment I already had booked for my knee, that was physically hurting.
How soon after finding something did you get diagnosed?
13 days. In London. Due to the local Dr being away, I couldn’t sit around over thinking it, I needed to know. So that weekend we decided to go to London on our private insurance. Within a week of going over there, I’d had ultrasounds, 3 biopsies, my diagnosis, and a suggested plan of action from a top London surgeon. I had all of this before my local appointment date had come around. If I had waited, I wouldn't have had my initial appointment until 2.5 weeks after finding the ‘thing’ and then at a guess, another couple of weeks before any results from local tests and scans. The scary thing is, I was told that my tumor was doubling in size every 4 weeks.
Were there any standout challenges that you faced?
It was a risk, which we knew about, having reconstruction before chemo. A small risk that my wounds may get infected and therefore delay chemo, meaning the benefits of chemo would reduce the longer I waited to start. But, I wanted to do it this way - why would I want to get wiped out from chemo and then have to have major surgery? Sadly I fell into that small chance. My wound from the reconstruction got an infection (aargh!), so I had to have an operation to clean it out, followed by a further procedure to re-stitch certain parts to aid healing. I had 5 pressure dressings in that time (which were amazing) to pull the wound tight and suck out anything that shouldn’t be in there to speed up healing. Mr Fysh was also a great help here in Guernsey, helping keep an eye on the wounds. This meant that I ended up starting chemo at week 14 rather than the ideal, week 6/7. This was a stressful time, because we were advised that usually by week 14, they’d suggest the patient bypass chemo and go straight to radiotherapy, but given my age and how far my cancer had progressed, he wanted to still continue with my chemo plan.
Did you have any other symptoms?
No. None what so ever. I’m well over all. If I over analyse things, I could possibly question my daily tiredness but tbh I’m a working mum so it’s most likely just because of that.
What type and stage of breast cancer did you have?
I was diagnosed on the 18th July 2024 with stage 3 Advance Ductal breast cancer. I think it’s the most common type (of the 48). ER positive (hormonal), HER2 negative. It had moved into my lymph nodes - 4 from what they could see at that point, but it turned out to be 7 cancerous so they removed the lot, 26!
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Don’t worry about what you don’t know.
Try to have a positive mindset.
And don’t google anything!