Emma was just climbing into her bikini when she found something shocking...
Strolling along the beach at sunset with my boyfriend Tom, I felt like I was in paradise.
Then suddenly Tom dropped to one knee beside me and said:
‘Will you marry me?’
‘Yes, I will!’ I replied, hugging him.
Tom and I had been together for 10 years, and after winning big on a game show, we were on the holiday of a lifetime in Mexico to celebrate.
Getting engaged made the whole thing even
more perfect.
Back home, we set a date and began planning our wedding.
We chose Thailand for our honeymoon and booked that too.
A year later, surrounded by our friends, Tom and I exchanged vows in a beautiful stately home.
The day was everything we’d wanted it to be and a few months later, we jetted off on our honeymoon.
We spent the first day in Thailand relaxing and the next day we were going snorkelling.
But as I pulled on my bikini, I froze. On my right breast, I could feel a lump the size of a marble.
Fear crept over me, because I knew what it could mean.
Two years earlier, after a cancer diagnosis in my family, I’d tested positive for an altered BRCA1 gene.
That meant I was at an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
At the time, the doctor had explained that preventative surgery wouldn’t be an option until I’d turned 40.
‘Go and enjoy life and have babies,’ he’d said.
So I’d put it to the back of my mind, until now.
Not wanting to spoil our romantic honeymoon, I kept it to myself, plastering on a smile as Tom and I headed off on our snorkelling adventure.
For the rest
of the week, all
I could think about was what was going to happen when
I got home.
Tom noticed I wasn’t myself, and asked: ‘Is everything OK?’
‘Of course it is,’ I fibbed.
But when we arrived home
to Leigh, Greater Manchester,
I finally confessed.
‘I’ve found a lump,’ I told him.
‘It could be harmless,’ he said.
My GP referred me for tests and a week later, Tom came with me to get the results.
‘I’m sorry, you have breast cancer,’ the doctor said.
She explained that it was oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, and it looked aggressive.
I went into shock. Tom had to console me in the corridor.
After the appointment, I went straight back to work to distract myself. It was only on my way home later, that I began to process my diagnosis.
Tom and I had
only just got married. We’d spoken about having kids soon too. But now, our life
was on hold.
‘I’m here for you,’ Tom said, wrapping me in his arms as I came in through the door from work.
Then two weeks later, I was getting dressed for work when
I felt a second lump.
This can’t be happening, I thought.
More tests confirmed it was triple-negative breast cancer.
It was in the early stages but needed to be treated urgently.
I felt numb. I had two types
of breast cancer at once.
‘As this type of cancer is aggressive, we’ll throw everything we’ve got at it,’ the doctor said.
There was a chance the treatment would affect my fertility, so we went through
the process of having seven embryos frozen, in case we needed to have IVF further down the line.
Then I began six months of chemo and radiotherapy.
I still needed surgery, and had a right-sided mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.
My lymph nodes were taken away at the same time.
After, I started hormone treatment to prevent the
cancer from returning, and would need acid infusions
for the next 10 years to help protect my bones.
A year later, I had
a preventative mastectomy on
the other breast.
While I was recovering, the COVID-19
pandemic hit.
I couldn’t get on with my life when the whole world had stopped, and
I was diagnosed with PTSD.
It made me
make a change.
‘I’m here for you’
I retrained as a primary school teacher and rebuilt my life again.
Then two years later, Tom and I decided the time was right to try for a baby, so I took a break from the hormone treatment.
We were expecting
to need IVF, but soon after, I had a strange feeling and took
a test.
‘I’m pregnant!’ I told Tom.
It had happened
so quickly and we were thrilled.
My pregnancy progressed well, and
in time, I gave birth to our miracle baby girl, Autumn.
She’s 16 months old now, and thankfully I’m in remission.
My chances of getting ovarian cancer are still around 70 per cent, so eventually, I’ll need preventative surgery.
There’s also a chance that Autumn could have the altered BRCA1 gene, so I’m doing everything I can to campaign for new treatments for her and her children.
That bombshell I found in my bikini changed everything, but I’m staying strong for my family.
By Emma Barker, 34