"I thought I was too young to get breast cancer, but I did"
Tracy Felgate, who is now four years cancer free, is urging women to get checked
Last updated 22nd Oct 2021
A Sutton-in-Craven woman is urging others to check themselves for lumps after she put it off because of her age.
45-year-old Tracy Felgate was diagnosed with cancer at 41-years-old but only decided to check herself after she heard people talking about breast cancer on a radio podcast.
After finding a lump in May 2017, she contacted her GP who referred her to Airedale Hospital, where doctors confirmed she had breast cancer and that it had spread to her lymph nodes.
"I wasn't expecting to feel anything when I checked," Tracy said.
"A lot ran through my head, that it could be a cyst but then I thought it was too hard to be a cyst. The doctor was examining me and as soon as she got to the lump I saw her whole face change which I was completely unprepared for.
"When they came back to me and told me I had cancer I mentally left the room. I wouldn't have been able to tell you what they said to me. "
Tracy had a lumpectomy and her lymph nodes on her right side removed then had radiation to finish off her treatment. She's now four years cancer free.
"It felt like a balloon on a string or a flower. I didn't check enough because of my age and because I don't have any history of it in my family but I certainly do check now. Sometimes two or three times a week.
"It's a really good job I heard that radio broadcast while I was in the bathroom because that's what encouraged me to check. Because of that I got mine at just 1.5cm in size and was able to have it removed."
Today (22 October), thousands of people affected by the disease r will be wearing pink as part of a Breast Cancer Now campaign to raise awareness.
2021 is the 20th year of the event, with over £36 million raised since 2002.