Jayne’s story: Breast Cancer Awareness Month | News

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the one single message to people of all ages is check, check and check again. Although Breast Cancer survival is constantly improving in the UK and has doubled in the past fifty years, it’s the second most treated cancer at Royal Surrey with over 2,700 treatments in the twelve months up to September 2026 and multiple teams supporting patients through primary or secondary breast cancer.  

According to an NHS report, 60% of breast cancers are diagnosed as a result of GP referrals and 30% as a result of the NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP). At Royal Surrey, most referrals to the hospital come via GPs to the ‘One Stop Breast Clinic’ for examination, imaging and a biopsy if necessary. Our teams run three of these clinics every week providing 87 new appointments.

Referrals like Jayne.   

Jayne went to her GP in April 2020 as the country’s focus was on COVID. She was immediately referred, had a biopsy and was given her diagnosis of breast cancer. She said:

“I had an open wound, not a lump or anything you’d necessarily associate with breast cancer. The consultant said, I’m going to have to operate and it all happened so quickly I didn’t really have time to worry about it, I just thought, right, ok, get on and do it.”

Jayne’s late husband nicknamed her ‘bulldog’ and she said it was the characteristics that earnt her the name along with the support she received from her allocated Royal Surrey nurse which got her through her surgery and the initial rounds of chemotherapy while also coping with the untimely death of her husband. 

Jayne’s cancer had spread, so she is now on a maintenance drug which she has injected every three weeks to continue the long-term management of the disease. She said:

“It doesn’t dictate my life. Thanks to the care at Royal Surrey, I now have a thigh injection and am in and out of hospital in half an hour.”

In fact, so little does it hold her back, that between injections, Jayne travels the world.  She said:

“A couple of years ago it was Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Then a boat for three weeks in the Maldives and this year I’m going to Sri Lanka. The Royal Surrey team are so supportive and have changed the dates of my injections sometimes very slightly so I can have them the day before and day after I get back.”

She said:

“The team at Chilworth Day Unit is brilliant. I know them all by name and they ask me when I’m next off; I say, 45 days, 3 hours and 3 minutes! I show them all my photos when I’m back.”

Jayne’s message for Breast Cancer Awareness month?

“Anything that happens around the boobs, a spot, a cut a mole - anything that looks different could be a warning sign - get it checked.”

For further information go to our Breast cancer web pages, Breast Cancer Now or Coppafeel!