Mum who found lump while breastfeeding told she may not be alive in five years
A mum has revealed how she was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump while breastfeeding her son.
Sheryl Martin, 42, a housing association manager from Kingston-upon-Thames, London initially put her sore breasts down to changes in her body after pregnancy.
But when she noticed a lump in her boob while breastfeeding her little boy, Finn, now five, she decided to get it checked out.
Martin's GP sent her for further screening and she underwent a biopsy before being diagnosed with breast cancer - specifically ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) - in September 2019.
"To be told at 37 you’ve only got an 80% chance of being alive in five years’ time, is just horrific," she explains.
"It was a massive thing emotionally to be getting your head around."
Martin first noticed something was wrong while she was breastfeeding her little boy, Finn.
"Even when I went to the GP, he said it’s probably just from feeding," she explains.
"But their protocol is to send you to the breast screening department."
After a biopsy, Martin was still convinced everything was going to be fine - telling the nurse she was heading to Portugal with her best friend later in the week, but she was told to come back for an appointment two days later.
"I felt so sick, with fear and anxiety, just thinking 'they’re going to tell me I’m dying'," she explains.
Unfortunately, her worries were realised in September doctors confirmed she had breast cancer, but reassured it had been caught in the early stages.
After discussing her treatment options with doctors, the mum-of-two had a mastectomy and a deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction - where a breast shape was made using her own tissue - in November 2019.
But following her surgery, a review with her doctor found that Martin's cancer was actually HER2 positive - which is a more aggressive type of the disease - so she would need to have chemotherapy.
She planned to get a tattoo of a nipple to replace the one she lost but after her appointment was cancelled decided to get a decorative design.
Initially, Martin planned to get a tattoo of a nipple, to replace the one that she lost.
But during lockdown, her appointment was cancelled, and this made her realise she didn’t want to get that kind of tattoo.
"I wanted something more decorative," she adds.
In October 2022, Sheryl and her friend, Anouk, 42, did a trek to Machu Picchu in Peru, raising £6k for Breast Cancer Now.
The trip proved to be a "major catalyst for change" for Martin and when she returned she ended her relationship and got a new job.
She decided to get her breast tattooed with the national flowers of Peru, to commemorate her "life-changing" trip.
After her mum, Heather Martin, 63, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack, the tattoo took on a new meaning - as it resembled flowers from her mum's funeral casket.
Now cancer-free with no evidence of disease, Martin will be walking in The Show by Breast Cancer Now, which is a fashion show featuring models who are living with or have overcome breast cancer.
"I want to raise awareness of breast cancer and to show others the positive side of life after a mastectomy," she explains.
"To normalise different boobs is amazing too.
"It was great to see the models with a range of flat and reconstructions and everything in between.
"I want to show there is life after breast cancer. And what a great life it can be," she adds.
Additional reporting SWNS.
Read more about breast cancer:
Why breast cancer changed my life for the better (Yahoo Life UK, 8-min read)
How to check your breast for lumps as Coronation Street star says she found one breastfeeding (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
Man diagnosed with breast cancer encourages others to check for signs and symptoms (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
