Since finding a tiny lump in her armpit while taking off her fake tan, a young woman spoke of her tumultuous journey and how her world seemingly flipped upside down following the shocking diagnosis.
While washing off her tan sometime in 2019, Tash Mitchell, 24, spotted the tiny lump but was told by her GP that the symptom was almost definitely just an exposed lymph node. A month later, with the lump having failed to vanish, the Dunedin sales manager from New Zealand was sent to a breast specialist.
Several scans revealed that she had stage two triple-positive breast cancer, a tumor that was small but one that needed rapid treatment.
As part of the Change and Check movement urging people to track the health of their breasts, the Kiwi woman, who was pronounced cancer-free this year following more than four months of chemotherapy, is opening up about her disease. One of the most crushing aspects of the diagnosis, Ms. Mitchell said, was not the possibility of losing her hair, but of having to cancel her wedding to the love of her life.
"It was enough to get the better of me if I did nothing about it and all my doctors kept saying I was so lucky to have found it." she told the NZ Herald.
Mitchell said her experience gave her a new perspective on life after watching her tumor shrink by 75% after intensive surgery. She believes that her medication would not preclude her from having children one day, and she was lucky enough to use IVF medication to fertilize six eggs.
New Zealand broadcaster Sarah Gandy, who herself was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36, is heading the Change and Check movement. The message is simple: know the warning signs of breast cancer and get checked out by a doctor immediately if you find anything strange.
Mitchell continued that this initiative is all about keeping people dreaming and examining their breasts at a moment that fits for them.
Both of us know the symptoms of a chill. How cool would it be for women to have the same degree of comprehension of what their boobs tell them? Data released by the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ has shown that one in six Kiwi women under 45 years of age never tests for improvements in their breasts.
Instead of having it checked out by a doctor, almost one in 8 respondents under 45 missed a lump or other symptom.
