Mandy May’s Breast Cancer Survivor Story: Turning Lemons into Lemonade

免責事項：Know Your Lemonsは、乳がん患者が共有する経験や物語を深く尊重します。これらの体験談に記載されているアドバイス、記述、事実は、必ずしも医学的な専門知識と一致するものではありませんし、すべての個人の状況に普遍的に適用されるものでもありません。乳がんは複雑で非常に個人差のある病状であり、これらの体験談は貴重な洞察や精神的な支えになりますが、専門的な医療アドバイスや治療の代わりになるものではありません。乳がんの診断、治療、管理に関する個別のガイダンスと意思決定については、常に資格を有する医療提供者にご相談ください。Know Your Lemonsは、乳がんに罹患した人々にとって最善のケアと転帰が得られるよう、患者、介護者、医療従事者の協力的なアプローチを奨励しています。

Mandy is an aesthetician from Warwickshire, UK. Since her diagnosis in 2020, she has made it her mission to help others and to find the good in the bad. As an aesthetician, Mandy does eyebrows for ladies going through chemotherapy and skin treatments. Occasionally radiotherapy patients will come in with tattooed markers on their skin and she turns them into freckles free of charge for them. Currently she is training to do 3D realistic nipple tattoos for anyone who has been through breast cancer surgery and she is going to do this free of charge! She also has set up a local breast cancer support group in her area helping other ladies who are going through or have been through a breast cancer journey. Surviving breast cancer made Mandy realize that she had missed out on so many amazing opportunities due to fear. Water was one of her biggest fears, but overcoming breast cancer encouraged her to face her fear head on. The week after she finished treatment, she went to Mexico to snorkel alongside sea turtles! We are so grateful for Mandy's amazing example of living life to it's fullest after diagnosis through enjoying each moment and helping others through education and support.

Mandy has agreed to share her story with us to help encourage people to take care of their breast health.

Here is her story…

My name is Mandy May and I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago.

When I was 42, I found a lump in my left breast by my nipple, which was just through regular checking. I had been back and forth to the doctors about terrible sweating in the night, I would wake up soaked. I didn’t feel well and I just knew something wasn’t right. I had blood tests and my white cell blood count came back very low. I saw a hematologist who said it wasn’t just how my body functioned and nothing to worry about. I was eventually diagnosed with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy. After that, the night sweats stopped and I haven’t had them since. As of today, I am really healthy and in a good place and living and appreciating my life more than ever before.

Two and a half years ago, I started blogging my journey on instagram. And then 18 months ago, I set up a local breast cancer support group in Leamington Spa where I live. Every month I have events where a group of lovely ladies who unfortunately have had breast cancer come along and we have coffee and cake, and share advice with each other.

My aim has always been to help others and to raise awareness about breast cancer. I regularly share Know Your Lemons posts because they're really informative and educational. And it's so important that you do regularly check. My advice to you is get to Know Your Lemons!