Mum's heartbreaking diagnosis at 37 after suspicious symptom her GP 'just thought was from breastfeeding'

A mum was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump while breastfeeding, which her GP believed was also just a result of breastfeeding. Sheryl Martin, 42, initially put her sore breasts down to changes in her body after pregnancy.

But when she noticed a lump in her breast while breastfeeding her little boy, Finn, now five, she decided to get it checked out. Sheryl's GP sent her for screening and she underwent a biopsy before being diagnosed with breast cancer - specifically uctal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) - in September 2019.

Sheryl had a mastectomy and a deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction - where a breast shape was made using her own tissue - in November 2019. She then had to undergo chemotherapy. She planned to get a tattoo of a nipple to replace the one she lost, but after her appointment was cancelled, decided to get a decorative design to cover her mastectomy scar.

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Now cancer-free with no evidence of disease, Sheryl loves showing off the inking which was inspired by a charity trek to Machu Picchu and features the national flower of Peru. Mum-of-two Sheryl, a housing association manager, from Kingston-upon-Thames, London, said: "To be told at 37 you’ve got an 80 per cent chance of being alive in five years’ time, it’s just horrific.

"The tattoo for me was about getting a sense of closure, regaining control - looking in the mirror and seeing something beautiful, with connections to my trip to Machu Picchu. It's really given me confidence - I'm happy to show people in a bikini and at the gym.

“It’s such a beautiful design, and I’ve happily lifted up my top to show friends and