Through cancer and BEYOND
WOMAN'S WEEKLY|October 12, 2021
This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, three women reveal how fighting the disease changed them for the better
GILLIAN HARVEY
Through cancer and BEYOND

‘Cancer made me braver’

Julie Brandram Jones, 62, is a part-time bookkeeper and lives with her husband Charlie, 63, in Herefordshire.

Sinking into a bubble bath, I mused about the twists and turns life could throw at you. It was August 2014 and I was staying with my parents, to help care for my elderly father after an operation.

Seconds later and still deep in thought, I suddenly felt a chicken-nugget-sized lump in my left breast.

I’d read somewhere that the majority of lumps are benign, so I wasn’t overly worried. And even when my GP referred me to the breast clinic, I was so convinced all would be well, I didn’t tell my husband.

Yet after a scan and biopsy, I was told that I had cancer. Shocked, I had to steady myself before driving home and telling Charlie.

That September, I began eight rounds of chemotherapy, with a single mastectomy planned for January 2015. Only, the more I thought about surgery, the more I realised that not only did I not want to feel lopsided, I also didn’t want to worry about another lump, or have a painful reconstruction.

‘I want you to remove both breasts,’ I told my consultant.

At first, he refused. It’s not policy to remove healthy tissue. But when I was still adamant after five months, he agreed.

It wasn’t until after my double mastectomy I found out I’d had stage 3 cancer. Soon after, I discovered Flat Friends – a charity for women living without breasts. Its support has been second to none.

At first, I wore prosthetics – I had a range of sizes, and even a pair of knitted breasts Charlie called my ‘blue tits’. But these days I’m more confident living flat.

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