When Alison Fitton was handed a Prevent Breast Cancer breast check card, she had no idea it would save her life. After reading that dimpling can be a sign of breast cancer, something she would have otherwise dismissed, she booked a GP appointment, setting in motion a chain of events that ensured her cancer was found early.
This is Alison’s story, and a powerful reminder of why education and early detection matter.
I’d noticed a dimpling on my left breast and assumed it was just another perimenopause symptom. Then one day, while I was walking down my high street, someone from Prevent Breast Cancer handed me a breast check card with the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
That was the moment I realised I should get checked by my GP. Even when the doctor said they could feel a lump and put me on the two-week cancer pathway, I honestly thought it was just going to be a routine check-up and that they wouldn’t find anything.
Alison quickly found herself at The Nightingale Centre, the home of Prevent Breast Cancer. She recalls:
As I went through each stage of the appointment, I started to change my mind. By the time I left I knew me and my husband would have to prepare for the worst. It was the longest week and a half ever, waiting for those results. The initial diagnosis was stage 1, grade 1 breast cancer, caught early, with a plan for a lumpectomy, lymph node removal and radiotherapy.
Despite the shock, Alison felt grateful for the early catch, and expected good news when she returned for her post‑surgery results:
They were going to tell us the best-case scenario: they’d removed all of the cancer, and I’d only need five days of radiotherapy. Big mistake. The cancer was actually larger than first thought. Two lymph nodes were affected, and chemotherapy, further surgery, reconstruction, and radiotherapy were now part of my treatment plan. I had to have a CT scan and I catastrophised, imagining I was riddled with cancer. Waiting for results was agonising, but thankfully, the scan showed the cancer hadn’t spread.
Alison remembers feeling numb, rather than the elation she expected:
After the initial catastrophising I think my brain was protecting me. It wouldn’t allow me to even consider that the cancer was anywhere else. To be dealing with breast cancer was already enough. I now know that, ultimately, a positive mindset is needed. But also, a practical one. Many times, I’ve felt as if this is all happening to someone else. Cancer? Me?! Nah! I’m healthy, I’m only 45, it’ll never happen to me…
Alison recalls being told she needed chemotherapy never truly sank in until treatment began.
It suddenly hit me and I had a moment. The nurse was so kind and so calming. She paused what she was doing so that we could have a chat about it. We discussed how it’s going to take time, and I’m going to feel rubbish at different points, but that it’s needed to make me well again.
One of Alison’s biggest challenges was explaining her diagnosis to her son, Eddie. She and her husband chose honesty, sharing updates in an age‑appropriate way. Eddie’s school also became a pillar of support, offering counselling and wellbeing help throughout her treatment.
The hardest part for me, through all of this, was how to tell Eddie. How the hell do you tell your child that their Mum has cancer? He was 9 when I got my diagnosis. The nurses at The Nightingale were amazing and told us not to shy away from the word ‘cancer’ and gave us literature to help.
Alison chose to record a video for Prevent Breast Cancer to help others recognise breast changes and feel confident checking themselves.
We’re told to check ourselves but are never told exactly how, and what visual signs to look for, and so I am making it my responsibility to raise awareness and signpost people to charities like Prevent Breast Cancer. I want people to feel confident about checking themselves so that breast cancer can be caught and treated early.
Alison’s story is a powerful reminder that breast cancer awareness saves lives.
If someone from Prevent Breast Cancer hadn’t handed me a breast check card, I wouldn’t have known that dimpling can be a sign of breast cancer. I wouldn’t have got checked, and my breast cancer would’ve been missed.
We are incredibly grateful to Alison for sharing her story and helping raise vital awareness. Her experience is a powerful reminder that knowing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer truly can save lives.
To learn what to look for and how to check your breasts, please visit the Signs & Symptoms section of our website.
About Prevent Breast Cancer
Prevent Breast Cancer is the only UK charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer – we’re committed to freeing the world from the disease altogether. Unlike many cancer charities, we’re focused on preventing, rather than curing. Promoting early diagnosis, screening and lifestyle changes, we believe we can stop the problem before it starts. And being situated at the only breast cancer prevention centre in the UK, we’re right at the front-line in the fight against the disease. Join us today and help us create a future free from breast cancer. If you have any questions or concerns, email us today.
