38yrs at diagnosis. No family history.
I was 51. Picked up at first routine mammogram so it quite likely would have been found at under 50 if I had been screened then.
Inconclusive and complex family history but just found out that I don’t have a BRCA 1 or 2 mutation.
Ladies - this feedback is great in terms of getting this information together and seeing how many of us there are - it’s just horrific that there are so many of us.
Ann - I’ve updated my post now - thanks for pointing out my omission.
Thank you everybody for all your input and also for any links that were posted, just getting round to reading everything and I’ll definitely be following this up and feeding it to various bodies and people and let you know what sort of response I get.
I’m so determined to make women/men more aware of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, and even more so for the medical profession and especially GPs to be better educated in spotting these too. As I said or may have said, there are too many women being told it’s nothing to worry about - this just happened to a friend of mine recently - nobody thought hers was breast cancer and it was! Luckily she pushed to get it checked and it was followed up hence an early diagnosis but sadly this isn’t always the case as I’ve witnessed.
Please keep the feedback coming.
Ruby xx
My cancer was picked up when I put myself into the NHS screening system at age 50. However,I had been going to my GPs since I was age 47 with symptoms which I was told not to worry about. My cancer would have been present at age 47 as told to me by my consultant. Many cancers take up to 10 years to manifest themselves. I would like to see screening start at a much earlier age. Screening may well have saved me from having a stage 3b breast cancer. If not earlier screening then better GP training. I have been trying for four years for this but it’s a very difficult issue and campaign groups don’t seem to want to know about the problem.
Jeannie
first diagnosed at 37
diagnosed again with a new primary in the opposite breast at 40.
mum had bc at 57 and her granny in her 50s
im a brca 2 carrier but didnt get it from my mum she was negative
the mutation comes from my dad and i am the only person in our family to have had BC… and there is only one case of ovarian ca in a second cousin of my dads who died at 45.
the other cancers are throat, oesophageal, stomach and rectal (mouth to bottom) but im doing more investigating to see if anything else comes out the wood work.
Lx
I was 45 and thankfully the GP I saw told me she had to refer me for a mammo, but it would take about 6 weeks to get an appointment. However, as it was July loads of people were away on holiday and I had an appointment 10 days later. Sadly, I wasn’t diagnosed until October as all my results came back clear, the surgeons found it when I was having the fibroid I’d been diagnosed with removed. I’ve often wondered if that couple of months made a difference as it was in one lymph node, but the surgeon said no.
I was 41 when diagnosed with bc. I went to my GP with a tender slightly thickened area in my breast that I found on self examination. Thankfully she refers all ladies who come to her with breast problems just to be on the safe side. Neither she or the consultant initially thought it was anything too serious - I was eventually dx with Stage 2, grade 3, triple neg breast cancer.
I was 20 when I had my first cancer, not bc, I had a sarcoma that luckily (!) was isolated - they thought at first that this was just a cyst.
Sil
Hi
aged 30, found lump myself and dismissed by two GP’s!
carly x
Hi,
I was diagnosed after my first routine mammogram at 50, no symptoms and no family history. I’m finding it shocking at just how many young people there are diagnosed with BC. This is definitely NOT an old person’s disease!
Val
im 44 and think its very sad that no screening is done until you reach 50 there should be no age limit on your life xxx
Hi, this is the first time i have written on this, i was 45 when i found out that i had breast cancer, i thought i was young till i met up with ladies alot younger than me and having to go through all the treatment and look after a young family - it was a real eye opener for me.
I was 29, although looking back at the symptoms it may have been there for a while without me knowing. No family history.
It is frightening to think that had I not just come accross 1 of the lumps by pure chance (had an itch on my chest and felt it when I scratched!) then who knows how long I would have lasted. Very morbid I know, but it does go through my head.
Paula xx
I was 33 with no family history.
Jox
Hi all, I was diagnosed at 39 - referred as non urgent, despite me knowing (instinct) otherwise.
Hi Tedoris - yes, I worked nights and shifts for 20 years before my diagnsis.
Also worked in an A/E dept where 9 of us (out of 40) were diagnosed (3 with other cancers. The link? We all developed cancer approx 4 -10 years after working in the department when it was going through a revamp . During this time, portable xrays would be done (in our confined workspace) and we had no lead protection - the air was full of radiation I guess, as I believe that it disperses into the air with use of a horizontal beam.
Who knows? sadly, 5 of us have died, 4 still going…
XXX
Hi
I was 28 when had tests etc (mamogram on birthday) but 29 at actual diagnosis. No family history either. Thankfully doc took me seriously and referred me as non urgent but it only took 10 days to get appt. Felt like a cyst, consultant considered leaving it for 6 weeks but decided to do biospsy etc.
Em x
Hi everyone,
I’d just turned 40 when diagnosed. last year…whoever said ‘life bgins at 40’!! No family history of any cancer.
I didn’t have children until mid thirties.
I work as a nail technician and suppose i breathe in quite a lot of chemicals each day. Could there be any connection?
Paula xx
Hi
I had just turned 28 when i was diagnosed but found the lump three months earlier. I certainly had no idea that i could get breast cancer in my 20s and would have seen my GP much sooner if i’d known. I dont have BRCA1 or 2 but my cancer is strongly hormone positive.
Heather.x
Hi Ruby
I was 41. The issue of age is important when it comes to educating our daughters and their friends to be breast aware in their 20s.
Wizz
Hi,
I was 41 when I found lump, GP dismissed it until refering me aged 43…[and that was only because I was persistent]…Aunt dx aged 50…she was dx with sec’s 12 yrs later and died last year aged 68.
i was 30 when first dx , now i am 49.
reneexx