My boob changed shape on holiday – then I was fighting for my life at 45 and dumped at the same time
A MUM had her world turned upside down after she noticed a change to her boob while on holiday.
It would be the start of a nightmare ordeal in which she was diagnosed with cancer and dumped by her partner at the same time.
Cassie Harrison, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023.
Just a week later, her long-term partner ended their relationship, leaving her to face the battle alone.
Over eight months, Cassie, from Essex, endured over 60 medical appointments, including chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and breast reconstruction where flesh was taken from her stomach.
“I was so weak and I had really lost my confidence,” she says.
“You just feel like utter crap after chemo, it strips everything from you.”
Cassie first noticed her left breast changing shape while on holiday in Lanzarote in July 2023.
She says it appeared to pull upward toward her neck, looking distinctly different to normal.
Despite her instincts, she chose not to address her concerns during the trip, not wanting to worry her daughter.
It wasn’t until she felt a grape-sized lump upon returning home that she sought medical attention.
Her GP immediately issued an urgent referral for a mammogram, which led to the discovery of two tumours, one 1in (2.5cm) long and another 0.4in (1.1cm).
Cassie says: “I noticed a really big change in my breast shape and I knew I had to do something about it, so I booked an appointment with the GP.
“She felt something and referred me immediately to the breast unit, which I attended about three days later.
“Two weeks later I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I had two tumours, and life sort of changed forever.”
Cassie says the news left her racked with worries for the future. As a mum, she was terrified about leaving her daughter behind.
Heartbreak is a physical pain. I just felt completely and utterly deserted and rejected
Cassie Harrison
“It was a complete shock,” she says.
“I had a 15-year-old daughter and I’m a single mum, so all I was thinking about was her.
“It was just the most terrifying experience when you’re actually faced with your own life and the prospect that you’ve got cancer and you think you’re going to die.
“I felt like I was starring in a film and nothing was real, I was just this part in this film that was sort of going on and that eventually the film ends and you’re left with the healing process after treatment
“But it was absolutely petrifying. It was gruelling. I was scared. My life as I knew it completely changed.
“I didn’t work. I was lucky enough to have a year off to get through cancer and to get through chemo and the surgeries that I’ve had.
“It was just so surreal and I lost a lot of confidence.”
Cassie “battled” to keep her hair using a cold cap, and fortunately it worked.
“But it was a really surreal experience and really, really tough to go through,” she adds.
“You can feel really isolated. I felt very lonely at times, even though I had an amazing support network around me.
“You sort of feel like you’re the only one going through this.”
‘It was just a horrendous time’
Cassie’s pain was further exacerbated by her partner of two years ending their relationship.
“He broke up with me the week after I was diagnosed,” she says.
“It was a horrendous time – the sleepless nights just questioning why he wasn’t there, why didn’t want to do this with me, why he wasn’t looking after me – it was really tough.
“Heartbreak is a physical pain. I just felt completely and utterly deserted and rejected.
“And I just couldn’t believe that somebody who was meant to love me could treat me in this way.
“But he had his own issues and he just couldn’t cope with my diagnosis and what I was going through.
“He wasn’t strong enough, so I had to almost put my feelings for him on pause because I was fighting for my life, and it really was that bad.
“I think once the treatment ended I probably felt more rejection and heartbreak because I was able to then actually deal with that.
“I couldn’t deal with both things at once; it was too painful.”
Cassie had eight rounds of chemotherapy and a mastectomy, where doctors removed her breast and rebuilt it with tissue from her stomach.
She also had a week of radiotherapy and was put into a medically induced menopause.
“I wasn’t even perimenopausal when they tested me, so I was put into a medical menopause because my cancer was driven by oestrogen,” Cassie says.
“It was feeding off my body. So I will be on immunosuppressants for the next five to 10 years.
“These also have their own side effects which are pretty horrendous, but I’m alive and I beat it, so I can only be grateful.
“I was just so scared. I had to literally give up control of my body and hand it over to a team of strangers who were trying to save my life.”
Doctors told her that if she had left the cancer undiagnosed for much longer, it would have escalated and become terminal.
What are the signs of breast cancer?
BREAST cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK.
The majority of women who get it are over 50, but younger women and, in rare cases, men can also get breast cancer.
If it’s treated early enough, breast cancer can be prevented from spreading to other parts of the body.
Breast cancer can have a number of symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue.
Most breast lumps aren’t cancerous, but it’s always best to have them checked by your doctor. You should also speak to your GP if you notice any of the following:
- a change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
- discharge from either of your nipples (which may be streaked with blood)
- a lump or swelling in either of your armpits
- dimpling on the skin of your breasts
- a rash on or around your nipple
- a change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast
Source: NHS
She says: “When I went in for my mastectomy, I’d had eight rounds of chemotherapy over a six-month period.
“I had no eyelashes, no eyebrows, and I’d lost all the hair on my body.
“I’d managed to keep the hair on my head, but it was thinning and I had gaps.
“The chemotherapy is almost like torture because you are so poorly you can have a bit of a bounce back in between sessions, and then you have to be poisoned again, so that was just hell.
“After the operation I was cut from hip to hip and that tissue and skin was used to rebuild my breasts.
“I couldn’t stand up straight and I had scars all over my body.
“I didn’t recognise myself. I had to learn to love my body again.
“I’m a single woman, so that concerns me for the future. Is anybody going to find me attractive again? I’ve got boobs that don’t match anymore after all.”
My experience has made me realise that life really is so short, so people I no longer allow people who don’t bring me joy in my life
Cassie Harrison
Cassie says it was her own inner strength and the love and support of her family and friends that pulled her through the nightmare.
“I’ve always thought that I was strong, but I didn’t actually realise how strong I was,” she says.
“I’ve got an incredible support network. My friends are my family. I only have a very small family, and I got through it with the help of my mum.
“She was very practical and she would keep the house really tidy and cook and clean for me, and then my friends were like my emotional crutch.
“They really looked after me. They really supported me. They took me to all of my appointments.
“My two best friends are just amazing, and I also reconnected with a lot of people that I had spoken to about my breast cancer diagnosis on Instagram.
“I journaled what I was going through in the hope that it would help other people, while also searching for answers myself.
“I found a community of women that were just amazing and they really helped me.
“I’ve now met so many incredible ladies that are a part of my life and will always be a part of my life, but I really had to lean into love and relinquish control and let people help me.
“That’s really difficult to do because I’m so used to doing everything myself.”
Cassie says despite her experiences being so painful, she has taken some positives from her ordeal and re-evaluated her life.
“I was just exhausted, felt very sad and quite angry,” she says. “But I have to say, what it has made me do is really address things in my life.
“It made me realise that life really is so short, so people I no longer allow people who don’t bring me joy in my life.
“It was quite easy then to let go of my ex because I just thought, I don’t want that noise in my life anymore.
“I don’t want to feel anxious anymore. I don’t want to be second guessing.
“I just want to be around people that make me feel loved and make me feel safe, and it’s brought a lot of peace.”
Cassie no longer has any cancer cells in her body.
She has given up alcohol, she exercises regularly and loves weight training.
She says the diagnosis has evolved her personality for the better and she is using her experiences to help others with her Instagram account @all_the_breast_.
“I was quite direct and outspoken, not in a sense to upset people, but I’ve never really had any issues with making friends and building relationships and, and now I feel like I’m actually a kinder person,” Cassie says.
“I feel like I have a lot more patience. I think that’s the one thing that cancer has taught me, so I’m quite grateful for that, for this experience, and I am using my voice.
“I’m turning the pain of my experience of breast cancer into power and I am building a community on Instagram where I help people, especially around cold capping, because people are constantly told that it doesn’t work and it worked for me.
“I kept my hair, so I’m using all of that pain and I’m turning it into a purpose, which makes me feel so happy.”