'I was told I had mum tiredness before aggressive diagnosis'

A busy mother-of-four was told her symptoms were "mum tiredness" - only to learn she had breast cancer when her nipple began bleeding. Andrea Henderson, 41, is battling stage one, grade three breast cancer - indicating early detection but an aggressive variant of the illness.

For 12 months beforehand, she had been consulting her GP while enduring exhaustion and a stabbing pain deep within the left side of her chest. However, her concerns were allayed when doctors attributed her symptoms to being a "tired" mum.

In February 2025 she was stunned to find her left nipple bleeding "spontaneously" after stepping from the shower - prompting an immediate GP visit that very day. Following six mammograms, an MRI and numerous biopsies, Andrea received her diagnosis - and now confronts eight cycles of chemotherapy, 10 years of hormone treatment and premature menopause.

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Andrea, a photographer from Alnwick, Northumberland, said: "As soon as I started bleeding, I thought the worst - you never think it's going to be you. At the moment, my doctors think they've caught all the cancer because it wasn't in my lymph nodes - but I'm now having to do preventative chemo and hormone therapy.

"I just want to raise awareness of the fact that younger women are suffering from cancer undetected - it's not being picked up by mammograms because of the early stage of some tumours."

Before February 2025, Andrea recalls being in a constant state of going "back-and-forth" to her GP due to fatigue and intermittent chest twinges that were "taking her breath away".

Each time, her GP attributed her symptoms to "mum tiredness". However, six months prior, a concerning incident occurred post-shower when Andrea noticed her left nipple was bleeding.

"It was a spontaneous bleed - and right away, I called my GP for a same-day appointment," she recounted. "They were very good after that, I was seen straight away and referred to the cancer clinic."

During an initial examination, Andrea's doctor detected a small lump beneath her nipple, comparable in size to a grain of rice. Following this discovery, she underwent a biopsy on her left breast and had six mammograms within two weeks.

Additionally, a biopsy was performed on some lumps found in her milk duct, which fortunately turned out to be benign. However, the diminutive lump under her nipple, measuring at 1.9mm, was diagnosed as stage one breast cancer, leading to the removal of the entire tumour by Andrea's medical team, followed by a subsequent biopsy.

Andrea said: "The consultant had even said to me: 'Oh, I don't think this looks like cancer, I've seen it in lots of women'. I got told in March, though, that it was stage one, grade three, which meant it was small but aggressive."

Upon discovering she was battling an aggressive type of cancer, Andrea underwent an MRI that scanned her entire chest and lymph nodes. The results left her "terrified" as doctors detected a 4.9cm tumour in her chest with highly aggressive cells.

Consequently, Andrea faced the prospect of having her entire left breast removed. The mastectomy was set for April 16, with reconstructive surgery following on June 4.

"Knowing how much life was going to change - I felt horrible," Andrea confessed. "Especially losing a breast - you have to really find out that beauty is soul-deep, nothing to do with how you look. Cancer strips you back to the bare minimum and I think it's making me a lot stronger than I already was."

Andrea is contending with HER-2 positive breast cancer, which proliferates rapidly as it "feeds on oestrogen". She was informed that a decade of hormone therapy would be necessary post-treatment, triggering an early menopause.

Starting Thursday, August 7, Andrea will commence eight cycles of chemotherapy, which will continue until December. She is urging pre-menopausal women to conduct regular self-examinations of their breasts and lymph nodes, given that routine screenings aren't mandated until women are between 50 and 53 years old.

"Younger women always have a worse prognosis because we have a lot more oestrogen pre-menopause," she explained. "We need to start having routine mammograms for younger women, too, because a lot of things can get missed.

"While checking your breasts, it's so important not to miss your nipples out - just because they're naturally bumpier, doesn't mean they're immune. Check under your arms - look out for any dimpling or swelling, as well as inverting in the nipple and general changes in the breast."

Andrea's GoFundMe page, set up to support her healing journey, can be found here.