A woman claims her boob job saved her life after her implants helped her catch a cancerous lump.
Rebecca Craggs, 53, was contemplating getting a boob job for nearly two years before she finally went ahead and had the procedure done last October.
The results were life-changing.
“I’m just counting my lucky stars that I actually had the boob job,” the mother of two told Kennedy News.
She credits it with saving her life.
“I had the surgery, and it was brilliant, and I was really pleased, but then, two weeks later, I was like ‘oh my gosh, there’s a lump there on the side of my right breast,’ ” Craggs said.
When Craggs first took off the surgical bra and bandages, she inspected her breast when she felt something moving about a millimeter under her skin. “It was really prominent — like a hard broad bean and about the size of one, too,” she explained.
She wasn’t sure what it was, but her mind began racing with possibilities, including the worst case scenario — cancer.
Cragg rushed to make an appointment with her doctor, who eased her concerns by telling her that the lump was likely a cyst and “wasn’t anything to worry about.” However, she was still referred to the breast unit at Birmingham City Hospital for a second opinion.
Two weeks later she had an ultrasound, a mammogram and a biopsy done when she began to fear her worst nightmare was coming true.
“I had a biopsy and went back to see the consultant. I could tell by their faces and they couldn’t tell me there and then because the results had to be sent off,” she told Kennedy News.
“Then she brought a cancer nurse in, and I thought, ‘Oh my God’ and I was by myself. Then she took me into a room and I just broke down.”
It was few days of agony before Craggs’ fears were confirmed. “Three days later, it came back that I had breast cancer,” she said.
“It was a really weird moment because I knew in my mind, I thought I had it. I didn’t react at all really, I already knew. Even the consultant said, ‘God, you’re taking this really well.’ I think a few days later it suddenly hit me.”
She credits her breast implants with helping her to catch the cancerous lump before it spread. “So without that, I could have been wandering around not knowing I had it thinking that 15 months ago my mammogram was clear, and I wasn’t due another one for another two years,” she said.
“Unless it would have grown really quickly, I wouldn’t have felt it, so that was a blessing in disguise in a way. Because of the boob job, I caught it early, so it hadn’t gone to my lymph nodes.
“It definitely could have saved my life. It saved it from progressing to further stages and ending up in my lungs, liver or whatever,” she continued.
Craggs had a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous lump and a biopsy of her lymph nodes in December. Her medical team also removed an extra 4 millimeters of tissue around the tumor.
After her procedures, Craggs was finally given good news that the cancer hadn’t spread any further.
She underwent three weeks of radiotherapy at the beginning of this April to ward off any other cancerous cells. She said she plans to have annual mammograms for the next five years and that she checks her breasts daily.
“There’s loads of ladies who missed their mammogram over lockdown, and that’s really concerning, because there’s loads of ladies walking around with breast cancer without knowing,” she warned.
More than 2 million fewer women reported having a breast-cancer screening in 2020 compared to 2018, a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association found. The New York Department of Health reports that mammograms prevent 12,000 deaths annually and recommends that women ages 50 to 74 get a mammogram every two years, with younger women making a plan with their health-care provider.
“Definitely book a mammogram and check your boobs all the time. And if you have got a lump, don’t be scared to go to the doctor, because it’s only going to get worse if something’s wrong,” Craggs said.
“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, it’s nothing, I’ll do it later’ or they’re too scared just in case it’s something. Well, if it is something, you need to get it sorted.”
Unfortunately, this was not Craggs’ first cancer scare. About 16 years ago, she had a cancerous spinal tumor and then got sepsis a couple years after that. Craggs advises everyone to be cautious of their health and the fragility of life.
“All these things together make me think — ‘just live your life,’ gosh,” she said. “I think life is too short.”