ED’S LETTER

Breast cancer survival rates have been on the increase for years, thank God. One of the reasons for that is that it’s no longer thought of as a single illness, each case to be treated in the same way. We now understand that there are different types of breast cancer, each requiring different treatment.

And in most cases I know of recently – and there have been

a few (one of them a man) – my friends and colleagues who have been diagnosed are treated by a team of doctors rather than just one: oncologists, plastic surgeons, radiologists and, in some cases, psychologists, work together, which seems to work better for everyone.

Last year I had a mammogram, and instead of being in and out with an all-clear in 20 minutes as usual, they took me back in twice because there was something the radiologist could see that she wasn’t happy about. In the end it was fine, which

I am massively, overwhelmingly grateful for. But sitting alone in that booth being told not to get dressed ‘just yet’ was absolutely terrifying. I had no idea what to do: whether to tell my husband or not, whether to ask him, or my mother or a friend, to come and sit with me, or wait it out on my own. I felt the ground shift beneath my feet that day. And

I was lucky. To all you women who had a different outcome,

I have huge respect for the courage you must have had just to get out of that booth, let alone everything that came after that.

The encouraging news for all of us is that now almost eight out of 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer survive it – and a lot of that has to do not only with the way the treatment has changed but also with early diagnosis.

I never say this other than in October, but please put this magazine down at once and feel your breasts. And please do it every single day, in your bath or shower. You know the drill, but this is not a drill: it really could save your life.

I wish all of you, and all those you love, a happy, healthy month.