Cancer survivors from Margate urge others to recognise symptoms

Two Margate women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer are urging people to understand the symptoms and have the courage to stand up for themselves if doctors ignore their concerns.

Eve Ross, who works at a nursery school in Kent, went to see her GP after discovering a small lump in her armpit in January 2024.

The 26-year-old told the BBC she was told it was just a cyst, but within three months the tumor had grown “to the size of a golf ball”. She said the doctor thought it was inflammation.

“I was in so much pain at night that I would scream,” she said. “But the doctor didn’t give me any painkillers, no matter how much I was suffering.”

Ms Ross said she “couldn't sleep” and had to go to the emergency department.

She said it took five months and four doctors before she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

Ms Ross said she underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and radiotherapy.

Although she is now cancer-free, she said she felt “betrayed” by some of the health care workers she dealt with.

“I'm angry, and that's the main reason I want to tell my story,” she said.

“You know your body, so see your doctors if you feel something is wrong.

“If they don't listen, find someone else, because that's what I had to do. I wish I had done this sooner.”

Earlier this year, Victoria Riley-Sanford was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 31-year-old woman said she discovered a small lump in her breast and went to the doctor.

“The doctor couldn’t feel the lump and told me it was hormonal,” she said.

Ms Riley-Sanford said medical staff continued to ignore her concerns during the scan until she “became hysterical” and “burst into tears”.

She said two weeks later she was told she had breast cancer and had one mastectomy.

“I feel relieved that I had the surgery. Life changes,” she said.

She added that she was “disappointed” that it took five months for her concerns to be heard.

According to Breast Cancer UK, around 56,000 women and men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

Symptoms include lumps in the breasts, breasts or armpits, changes in breast shape, redness, rash or changes in texture, and any pain that does not go away.