A MUM battling cancer is sharing her story to urge women to check themselves regularly after discovering a lump on her breast. 

Helen Adams, 37, from Basildon, has been fighting breast cancer over the last year and is now trying to highlight how important it is to check regularly.

In September last year, Helen found a lump in one of her breasts and after a number of procedures she was diagnosed with cancer. 

She said: “It is so important to check because the sooner you find the lump the better your outcome is. 

“I was lucky to find mine as early as I did.

“My aim now is to make women aware of breast cancer to reming them to check themselves regularly.”

Despite multiple rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer failed to shrink and was deemed too aggressive. 

It was decided that Helen needed a mastectomy and lymph node removal. 

Helen had the surgery in February this year, which was then followed by more chemotherapy and 15 sessions of radiotherapy.

Following that, another lump was found during the last week of radiotherapy. 

Doctors found the breast cancer had returned and Helen had to endure another series of operations to remove it.

Helen is now on a different course of treatment to keep the cancer away, and insists the situation could have been much worse if she hadn’t found the lump herself. 

She said: “Right now, with my treatment I am taking daily tablets and monthly injections to bring my menopause on early because my cancer was hormone aggressive, and this can slow down my hormones.”

Despite what she has gone through Helen said she tries her best to enjoy life, but admits the worry is still there

She added: “I try my hardest to enjoy life and try not to worry too much about it, however I suffer with my mental health as you are always thinking it could come back again.

“But thankfully, I have a lot of support from friends, Annette and Roxi, and partner Jay, that all keep me going.

“I would also like to thank Denise, my breast nurse and surgeon, and all the staff at the unit at Basildon Hospital as they have been amazing to me.

To find more information on how to check your breasts, you can visit the NHS website.