‘I thought it was a swollen sweat gland’

A few days before her routine check-up mammogram last October, Paula* was lying in bed ready to sleep when she discovered a lump on her left underarm. “At first I thought it was a swollen sweat gland – it happens sometimes – but deep down I noted that it was strange that I didn’t have one on the other side,” she said. The 54-year-old mother of four went for her appointment at a private clinic and told the radiographer about the lump. With the image in hand, the consultant immediately ordered that a biopsy sample be taken from the lump. However, Paula had to wait 10 days for the results to arrive. “The waiting killed me. I went into the bedroom and sat down when I called. They told me ‘unfortunately there is something malignant’,” she said. Shocked and scared, Paula started a whirlwind of follow-up tests, including a CT-scan and biopsies, until a few days later she was told that the lump was cancerous, classified as a Grade 3, and she had three dark spots in her left breast. She was referred to Mater Dei Hospital’s breast clinic and the team of consultants, specialists, and nurses decided the best way forward was to start with eight sessions of chemotherapy, followed possibly by...