We’d just been on amazing family holiday. We are “old rockers” and love going to festivals, but in a matter of weeks my life was turned upside down. I would never have imagined having breast cancer, let alone having it twice at the same time!”

Mum passed away last December six weeks after being diagnosed. She’d been having acid reflux, and we didn’t think it was any more serious than that. That was to be a traumatising extra shock on top of my diagnosis, and totally unforeseen.

Mum and I were close, we lived nearby, but I’ve been unable to grieve. There’s not been any time too. I’ve been feeling so ill, in an out of hospital, and I’ve also had to care for after dad who has been ill himself. It’s just been getting through the day and non-stop.”

I had initially been treated for eczema, and prescribed cream, but it soon became obvious it wasn’t that.

I went back to the GP and had a breast check, both my breasts, and the doctor felt a lump on my left breast - the opposite one to where I had the symptoms. What followed has been an emotional rollercoaster of a year I’m still trying to process.”

I had stage 2 cancer in my right breast, and stage 3 in my left. One cancer was driven by estrogen and other by protein. The tumour in my left breast was 5cm and growing. It was hard to take in, and my life was about to change forever.”

Emma said she had rarely checked her breasts before diagnosis: “I’ve always had lumpy breasts before, so it was quite hard to tell but I didn’t regularly check them. I was too young for a mammogram.

My alarm bell, what made me make a GP appointment, was the discharge from my right nipple and the dry skin around it. I had no idea there was a lump on left breast though, and that it was at stage 3!

I’m glad I made an appointment when I did - if I hadn’t, I’m not sure what the outcome would be.”

I was so ill with the chemo. I ended up in hospital three times. The treatment had wiped out all my white blood cells, and I had urine infections.

Just before the fourth round I went for genetic testing. The results revealed I had the BRCA 2 cancer alternation and was also HER-2 positive, meaning cancer tends to spread faster than being HER2 negative, but more likely to respond to treatment with drugs that target HER2 protein.

The oncologist looked at the effect chemo was having on my body along with the BRCA2 cancer gene and decided to bring forward the surgery. The chemo was stopped for the time being.”

The doctors are saying the cancer hasn’t spread to my lymph nodes, but I bear the scars of the surgery, physically and mentally.

I have lost both nipples. I look nothing like I looked. I lost my hair, eyebrows, eyelashes and my confidence. I feel I’m in an older person’s body.

Saying that, the surgeons did an excellent job, and I am grateful. It was the best outcome for me.

I am still on chemo, but there are still days I feel like I’m dying and can’t get through the day. I also worry about the future as it’s statistically more likely my cancer with return.”

Tenovus Cancer Care have been amazing. They have been regular contact and supported me at my lowest.

When I was struggling with my chemo, the first-time round, one of the nurses called me at just at the right time. They listened with care and compassion. The thing is with cancer you can’t always talk to family. My husband Neil has been amazing, my rock, but it’s good to talk to someone who isn’t so emotionally invested and has medical knowledge alongside empathy to give.

I could tell them (the nurses) about my ailments, and they gave me welcome advice, helping me with my confidence, and being encouraging. The counsellor I spoke to also helped and was professional.”

Doctors are so overwhelmed with workload today you don’t feel you can phone them over everything, you don’t want to add to their pressures, that is how I felt anyway. But Tenovus Cancer Care have made me feel I SHOULD phone them, and it was so reassuring. It’s a truly personalised service – they know you - and you don’t have to start afresh every time. You feel more than an NHS number.”

I love walking my dog, Angus. That gives me joy. I’m also an old rocker and a regular festival goer. My daughter, Mali, recently bought me tickets for the Download Festival in Donnington Park, that’s next June, and I’m aiming for that.

It would be great to feel me again, living life to the full and having fun the other side of 50 as well as cancer.”