Shropshire Star

Telford mum says breast implants saved her life

A Telford mother has said having breast implants saved her life.

Published

Leza Davies was doing the laundry when she knocked her right breast on a door frame because of its increased size.

She found a pea-sized lump and hospital tests revealed it to be cancerous.

She began six months of chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy and surgery and is now in remission.

The 33-year-old from Telford believed implants would boost her confidence after months of breastfeeding.

She saved up £4,000 to go from a 34A to a 34D before the discovery of the lump in April 2012.

The mother-of-three said that she didn't regularly check for lumps and if she had not knocked her breast she might not have discovered the tumour until it was too late.

Thousands of women are risking their lives by waiting more than a month before seeing their GP after spotting breast cancer symptoms.

One in five diagnosed with the disease had put off making an appointment for at least four weeks, allowing the cancer time to spread and potentially reducing their chance of survival.

And one in 20 had delayed seeing the doctor for more than six months, according to a survey of patients.

It was after breastfeeding her first baby Brayden, who is now 12, that Mrs Davies first decided she wanted the surgery.

She said: "I was left with saggy breasts after feeding.

"There was just no tissue left, so I decided to get implants to restore my confidence.

"I thought they would improve how I felt about myself. I didn't know they would save my life too.'

Mrs Davies, a semi-permanent make-up technician, said she was happy with her new breasts and went on to have her daughter, Macy-Rayn, in 2010.

After she caught her breast on the door frame, her husband Tristan, 36, urged her to visit her GP.

Mrs Davies said: "I was only 30 and didn't think it would be anything to worry about.

"I just went to put my mind at ease.

"The doctor referred me to hospital for further tests. I was told it was very unlikely to be anything sinister, but they wanted to be cautious."

A few weeks later doctors advised her to have a lumpectomy test, and this confirmed she had cancer, which is extremely unusual in someone her age.

While breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, eight out of 10 women who get it are over 50 years old.

Mrs Davies said: "I was devastated. I just kept crying thinking I was going to die and imagining my children growing up without me.'"

That July, she began six months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes surrounding her breast.

She then had an operation to remove five lymph nodes containing cancerous cells, and afterwards doctors were confident she was in remission.

However, they said the treatment would probably leave her unable to have more children.

She explained: "Afterwards, they told me they'd got all the cancer but that I wouldn't have anymore children as a result of the treatment.

"I would have liked more, but I was already lucky enough to have one of each and was just so happy to be alive.

"All thanks to my boob job."

However, she soon suspected she might be pregnant and took a test, which revealed she was, in fact, expecting.

Her daughter Araya-Maye, is now nine months old, sister to Brayden, 12, and Macy-Rayn, five.

She describes Araya-Maye as her "second miracle".

"My implants saved my life. I'd ask all women – however young – to check their breasts," she added.

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