Early treatment vital for stricken mother
ARMY veteran Charly McNelis was diagnosed with breast cancer at the start of the pandemic in March last year.
But she was one of the lucky ones. The mum of two, 38, who reached Captain and served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Royal Corps of Signals, got a GP appointment after finding a lump.
She was referred to a breast clinic and despite her treatment being disrupted by Covid her cancer was caught early after a biopsy.
Charly, who lives with husband Mark, 44, and daughters Phoebe, six, and Annabel, five, in Corsham, Wilts, said: “They said I would have chemo first, then radiotherapy and surgery.
“By now the pandemic levels were rising and doctors explained it didn’t feel safe to go down the chemotherapy route so I
would have surgery first and it should still be a lumpectomy.
“But by the time I went to meet the surgeon the week after, this changed to a full mastectomy.”
Charly’s doctors changed the chemotherapy drugs to minimise infection risk.
She started chemotherapy after surgery at the beginning of May which lasted 18 weeks.
She said: “I am lucky in many ways – my cancer is treatable.
“Covid impacted my treatment options but has not stopped it and for that I am grateful.
“I got my diagnosis and I got treatment, when there are people out there who haven’t started treatment and are undiagnosed.
“I contacted my GP as soon as I noticed something unusual and I hope other women will do the same.”