MY HAPPY EVER AFTER

Carmen Loscialpo, 37, was going through cancer treatment when an old friend came back into her life

- TRACY GAYTON, ASHLEIGH PAGE

Stepping out of the shower in April 2019, I wrapped a towel around me before squeezing a dollop of moisturiser into my hands. As I applied it across my body, I was thinking about the day ahead – what my daughters, then six and four, were up to. Life was busy but it was blissfully happy. Only, as I rubbed moisturiser across my chest, I froze. My fingers had landed on a pea-sized lump in my left breast.

Days later, a doctor referred me for a scan followed by a biopsy. And finally, I got a phone call from Guy's Hospital, London, asking me to come in. I went along to the appointment alone and sat opposite the doctor, I'd never felt so scared.

'You've got stage three breast cancer, the doctor confirmed. In a wave of emotion, I collapsed to the floor. 'What about my girls?' I sobbed. I was told I needed to start treatment straight away. I had to give up my job as a bartender, and a soon after, my relationship ended. It felt as if my world was crumbling around me.

MESSAGE FROM AN OLD FRIEND