A survivor's story: Breast cancer

Breast cancer can be spotted by screening

Natalie Boston was 26 when she found what every woman dreads - a breast lump.

Most lumps turn out to be benign - or caused by an infection, but doctors urge women to be aware of any changes, so that any cancer can be caught early.

Natalie, from London, was treated with aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy and later needed a single mastectomy - but is happy with the reconstructive surgery that followed.

Before watching a film about breast cancer called "My Left Breast", Natalie never considered carrying out her own checks.

"I was feeling run down, and tired, and all the other things that go with a working life.

"I felt something, and I told my best friend it was probably nothing."

The friend, however, was scrupulous about breast lumps since the death of her own mother, and eventually persuaded her to go to see a GP.

I thought: 'I'm going to fight this, I'm young, I've got all these things to do. Natalie Boston Breast cancer: The facts

"I could see by the look on the GP's face that it wasn't silly, she said: "Well, I don't think it is cancer, but I can't rule it out."

However, because of Natalie's young age, and the fact there was no history of breast cancer in the family, the GP decided to put her on a short course of antibiotics to see if the lump was caused by infection.

"Every day I checked myself and the lump was still there - it was actually quite hard.

Further Checks

"I was doing a lot of aerobics at the time and I thought it might be something to do with that."

On returning to the GP, she was referred on to a breast clinic.

That appointment was on April Fool's Day, and involved a needle biopsy, in which a small sample of the lump is taken, and a mammogram x-ray of the breast.

"They took me into this room, eight doctors walked in and gave me this room.

"I just had all this information I had to take in - for a week it was quite traumatic

"I obviously thought: 'Oh my God it's cancer, I'm going to die.' I'd watched all the weepy films.

"Then I thought: 'I'm going to fight this, I'm young, I've got all these things to do.'

"I'm stubborn, that's my character."

The first treatment was to be aggressive chemotherapy, delivered through a tube left placed in a vein in the chest to avoid repeated injections.

This was given first to try to remove the need for mastectomy.

"The one I had was called the Red Devil - first of all it made you feel very sick . I was very very tired I couldn't even move, I was just watching the television and staring into space.

"I didn't lose all my hair because I had the cold cap, which froze all the follicles, but I wish I had lost it, because it was very thin and I had had it permed prior to me being ill anyway."

It became apparent that the chemotherapy would not be enough, and a breast removal operation would be needed.

Breast operations

At first she tried to persuade her consultant to carry out a double mastectomy, in which both breasts are removed, but he talked her out of it, and an operation to remove just one was carried out, with breast reconstructive surgery carried out at the same time.

When you're wearing normal underwear, it's the same - there coming on leaps and bounds with the plastic surgery. Natalie Boston

Natalie said: "First of all I did say to my consultant I wanted to have both of them off. I was finding it very hard.

"It's only a bit of skin at the end of the day - I was just worrying about my other half, and what he would think.

"But he was very supportive - he said: 'you're more important to me. I don't care'.

"I couldn't see anything for the first week because I still had the bandages on, and I didn't have a good physical opinion of myself previously anyway.

"I thought, it's not that important, I'm alive.

"There was one occasion when I went out to buy underwear and I said: 'Oh what's the point', but then he made me see sense."

Then she underwent a short course of radiotherapy to "mop up" any remaining cancer cells.

Finally, she underwent surgery to reconstruct the nipple.

She said: "It's not ever going to be the perfect shape, it's always going to have that Pamela Anderson look.

"But when you're wearing normal underwear, it's the same - there coming on leaps and bounds with the plastic surgery they're doing."

Natalie and her doctors were concerned when, after the radiotherapy, her periods did not return as expected, and she was warned that she might be going through the menopause, and might not be able to have children.

However, to her relief, they returned shortly afterwards.