Hi, I’m Anne, and I live in Southwest London with my husband, and in this part of London bordering Bushy Park, one of the so called ‘Royal Parks’, almost obligatory dog. We have 2 grown children, both now away at university.

Having always been the ‘healthy’ one, as my husband has a heart condition, it came as quite a surprise to suddenly become the patient in November 2022.

The first thing I noticed was a slight indent in the bottom of my breast but having googled it, to me it didn’t fit the description of ‘dimpling’, and having checked my breast, at that time did not feel anything, and definitely not any lump.

During a particularly stressful family time, with both my husband and son having operations and needing my support at home as they were both incapacitated and on crutches, I noticed a change. I described this change as a ‘thickening’ in that area, which I now know is a classic description of Lobular. I very nearly didn’t make a GP appointment as there was so much going on (the dog fell down the stairs and needed a vet visit at the same time) but decided to confide in my daughter so that she would make sure I did.

I was not expecting that that visit would lead to a cancer diagnosis, with an initial 4cm tumour on ultrasound showing up as 7cm on MRI. I feel extremely fortunate with my treatment team and was immediately referred for follow up scans which included CT and follow up bone scan which thankfully didn’t show any metastasises.

I subsequently had a single mastectomy with immediate DIEP reconstruction followed by radiotherapy. Oncotype testing suggested that my tumour was unlikely to be responsive to chemotherapy and having started on Letrozole pre surgery, resulting in tumour shrinkage, I will be continuing hormone therapy for the recommended minimum 5 years.

I had never heard of Lobular Breast Cancer before my diagnosis and am very grateful for the information I was able to gather from sources like Lobular Breast Cancer UK (LBCUK).

Working for a children’s hospice charity, I’m aware of the importance of trustees to charities, and when I saw that LBCUK were looking to appoint new trustees, I jumped at the chance to offer my support. I’m passionate about making a difference and supporting those facing a Lobular Breast Cancer diagnosis, helping to ensure that patients and health care professionals have the information they need to make informed, evidence-based decisions about their care.