Woman found out she had seven tumours after sign when drinking alcohol
A woman who started vomiting after just one beer discovered she'd had cancer for 10 years, and had to get a double mastectomy and have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
Kelly Gunn, 46, had first felt a lump in her breast a decade earlier, but repeatedly had her fears dispelled by doctors.
Yet, after falling ill while living in Belize after a single beer, Kelly flew back to Virginia, USA, for yet more tests.
It was then that she was finally diagnosed with stage one breast cancer, with seven tumours in her right breast.
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Kelly underwent a double mastectomy and breast reduction, after which a doctor told her she'd likely had cancer for 10 years.
“The doctor came in the next day after my double mastectomy and said I’d made a very good choice having a mastectomy because if I’d had a lumpectomy [removing just the lumps] they would have had to go back in as my right breast had six or seven tumours,” Kelly, founder of Fionix Haus, who help women after cancer, said.
“He said by the size of them I’d probably had cancer for 10 years.”
'Way more tumours than the imaging could find'
Kelly was told by doctors she had dense breast tissue back in 2016, with a lump being caused by hormones.
A mammogram in October 2022 then discovered a lump in her right breast, but further tests showed it was not cancerous.
Kelly ensured she got yearly mammograms and was told a growth was 'probably benign' following an ultrasound in April 2024.
Two months later, the truth of her condition was finally discovered.
“So that meant my biopsy was wrong; my ‘probably benign’ was wrong,” she said.
“They were big enough and growing that long and there were way more in there than even the imaging could find.
“It was the first time in my life I allowed myself to be angry.
“It sucks we have to advocate so hard for ourselves and have to pay for it too – to pay to survive and beg to get coverage.”
Kelly had to undergo a full breast reconstruction due to the size and location of the tumours, forcing surgeons to 'scoop' out the tissue.
Thankfully, the cancer did not spread to her lymph nodes but she had to take medication to suppress her ovaries as the cancer was fed by female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone.
With the side effects from the drugs becoming too much, Kelly had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed and was placed into medical menopause, which was another battle she had to contend with.
“The bones in my elbows hurt to the lightest touch,” Kelly said.
'I kind of have to pull up my big girl pants and suck it up'
“The tiredness, it’s not something you sleep off, it’s guttural.
“Women have a hard time enough with hormones but I cannot take HRT, I cannot take testosterone or any sort of relief.
“I kind of have to pull up my big girl pants and suck it up.
“Of course, I’m grateful to wake up every day and am happy to open my eyes but I have to force myself through it.”
Kelly still has check-ups and blood tests every three months, with her fight against cancer a never-ending conflict.
“Just because it didn’t go to my lymph nodes doesn’t mean I don’t have a sleeper cell somewhere,” she added.
“I am never cancer free, there is no finish line to surviving.
“It haunts you for the rest of your life, it sucks.”
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of breast cancer in women can include:
- A lump or swelling in the breast, chest or armpit
- Change in the skin of the breast, such as dimpling or redness
- Change in size/shape of one or both breasts
- Discharge from the nipples (if the person is not pregnant or breastfeeding), which may have blood in it
- Change in the shape or appearance of the nipple, such as it turning inwards or having a rash
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Daniel Murphy