Almost a year before being diagnosed with Lobular Breast Cancer in October 2022, Vicky Marshall (in the middle of the front row above) had a mammogram, which didn’t pick up anything. Not long following her mammogram, she found a hardening in her right breast under the armpit so she asked her husband to feel it. He said, “It’s massive.”
The next day, Vicky went to her GP. As she was on HRT, which can cause hardening of the breast tissue, the doctor thought that’s what it may be but sent her on a two week urgent referral, just to be on the safe side.
About a week later, Vicky found herself at Stafford hospital having 9 Mammograms, 1 CT scan and 3 biopsies.
The results showed that there were three areas of concern in her right breast, forming almost a triangle. At this point, Vicky was certain that she had breast cancer. The results of the biopsy confirmed her thoughts and Vicky was diagnosed with Lobular Breast Cancer.
“I wasn’t shocked when I was told I had breast cancer. I was shocked when they said it was Lobular as I’d never heard of it – and I’d worked as a physio assistant in Breast Care. I’d worked in the NHS for 33 years and never heard of Lobular Breast Cancer.”
A month after first going to her GP, Vicky had a mastectomy to remove her right breast and her tissue sample was sent to America for an Oncotype test (Onctotype determines if chemotherapy would be effective treatment for your tumour). Six weeks later the results showed a score of 10, meaning she needed 15 rounds of radiotherapy, rather than chemotherapy.
Prior to treatment, Vicky had always been very active, going to toning classes, cold water swimming, and Zumba. Following her mastectomy and during her radiotherapy treatment, she wasn’t able to exercise.
When ready to return to the gym, she told her Zumba teacher, Angela, about her diagnosis. Angela gave her loads of support and Vicky enjoyed being back in the classes and feeling more like herself again.
When Vicky met one of our LBCUK Trustees, she was shocked to learn that there is so little knowledge about the disease and a lack of funding going into its research. She wanted to do something to support the charity in raising awareness and advancing research, so she decided to do a Zumbathon fundraiser at her gym, The Wallace Sports Education Centre in Abbey Hulton.
Vicky had so much support from everyone at the gym and on the day of the Zumbathon, 54 people took part.
“No one, apart from my Zumba instructor Angela, knew that it was me who had breast cancer. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. On the day of the Zumbathon, I was ready to share my story with everyone and I got a lot of strength from that.”
The Zumbathon raised an amazing £3,600! We are so thankful to Vicky for organising such a brilliant event and for raising funds that will help us to spread awareness about Lobular Breast Cancer and to support our advocacy work.
If you’d like to host a fundraiser for us, please email info@lobularbreastcancer.org.uk