A woman from Kent credits a hug from her mother with saving her life, after it prompted her to seek a second opinion that revealed she had breast cancer. Selina Moss-Davies, now 43, discovered a large lump on her breast in March 2011, but her GP reassured her there was nothing to be concerned about.
It was only when her mother Pauline felt the lump during an embrace that she took matters into her own hands, booking then 28-year-old Selina an appointment at a breast clinic without delay. The finance worker from Rochester was subsequently informed that the lump was a 38mm aggressive grade three tumour. She was also told she carried the faulty BRCA1 gene mutation, which places her at heightened risk of developing several other cancers.
Selina said: 'My mum would hug me and because of where the tumour was—it was quite high up on my breast—she could feel it through my t-shirt. There was nothing about it that concerned me but she actually went ahead and made an appointment without telling me. Thank God she did.'
Selina underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, losing all her hair within the first week, alongside a loss of taste, extreme fatigue, nosebleeds and severe bone pain. By her second session, the tumour had shrunk to 80mm. Four weeks after completing chemotherapy in November 2011, she had a nine-hour double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. She received the news that she was cancer-free, a milestone she has now celebrated for 15 years.
Selina, now a mother of two, has since taken part in Cancer Research UK's Race for Life events with her family. She said: 'It is something that I will always carry with me. There is always a risk and I am very aware of that, but I have found ways to cope. I don't allow it to impede on my day-to-day life.'
