An Essex mum indulging in a pamper session before going on a first date claims slapping on FAKE TAN saved her life - after discovering a lump in her breast that turned out to be cancer.
Joy Collins was checking if her tan was streaky in the mirror when she noticed some dimples above her left breast, which prompted her to do a self-examination and feel a bean-sized lump.
The 48-year-old eventually visited a GP who referred her to a breast clinic where she had a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy - but she was stunned to be diagnosed with breast cancer that very same day.
The mum-of-two was diagnosed with stage 3C triple negative breast cancer - an aggressive form of cancer that grows quickly and had already spread to her lymph nodes.
The Finance Director had gruelling treatment including chemotherapy, a mastectomy, complete lymph node removal as well as immediate reconstruction surgery, which took skin, tissue and blood vessels from her stomach to rebuild her breast.
The beauty lover, whose diagnosis has had a massive impact on her life, said that her scarring has been particularly difficult to process - given it's a 'permanent reminder' of all she's been through.
She finished her treatment at the end of August but is now having to decide whether to have a preventative mastectomy on her right breast due to a risk of cancer also developing there.
Joy is now keen to raise awareness of the importance of routinely checking your body and getting any suspicious lumps and bumps quickly seen to - no matter how young you are.
Joy, of Southend, Essex, said: "That pampering session saved my life.
"I was just putting fake tan on and noticed some dimpling.
"Spend time looking after yourself. Do something to regularly check yourself and notice any changes because the more you do, the more you would notice a change like that.
"I was wondering 'was that there before?' and questioning myself but I thought 'no, I'm sure I haven't noticed that before' whereas if I'd been checking myself more regularly, I might have noticed it earlier.
Joy believes the pampering session saved her life (Image: Kennedy News and Media)
"And then I might not have been stage three when I spotted it, it might have been a much earlier diagnosis."
When Joy was 25 years old she was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, which is an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system - a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body.
She said that to treat it, she had chemotherapy and radiotherapy in her chest area, which increased her risk of getting breast cancer.
She discovered the dimpling on the left side of her breast near her armpit last May.
Joy said: "I was recently separated and getting ready to go on a date, it was a bit random.
"That's the only reason why and because I wanted to make sure I wasn't streaky, I was looking in the mirror and noticed it.
"Once I saw the dimpling then I did a self-examination and felt something, but I wasn't 100% sure.
"It wasn't very big. I just felt like there was something under the skin. It was around the size of a bean and was hard.
"I thought 'oh, I don't think that's been there before' but I'm busy, work full time and have two children, so I delayed going to the doctors."
Joy said that around a year previously she got a lump on her breast checked out that turned out to be a false alarm, so wasn't overly concerned by her discovery.
She also said that she had to ring her GP at dead on 8am to get an appointment, which was when she was driving her son to school so always missed the opportunity.
She eventually saw a GP the following month.
She visited the breast unit at Southend University Hospital on July 1st where she had a mammogram, ultrasound and then biopsy.
Joy said: "I didn't expect to be told there and then that it was breast cancer, so I fell apart.
"It was a complete shock because I was sort of expecting them to say 'we might suspect it, we'll wait for the biopsy results'.
"My sister was looking after my two children and I couldn't actually speak on the phone so the breast care nurse had to speak to my sister and tell her.
"I came out and rang my mum and walked to her house to have a cup of tea to try and calm down.
"I knew that when I went to my sisters I had to tell my children, which was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do.
"Having gone through cancer before it's different when you have children, it's a completely different scenario."
Joy was initially told she had stage 3C early stage 4 triple negative breast cancer as they thought it had spread to a lymph node in her neck, and was incurable.
But luckily this was downgraded to stage 3C, following another PECT scan and a fine needle biopsy which showed no cancerous cells to the node in the neck.
She had 12 cycles of intravenous chemotherapy beginning August 2021 followed by three cycles of EC chemotherapy in November 2021.
Joy had major surgery this February involving a mastectomy, complete lymph node removal and DIEP flap reconstruction where tissue from her lower belly was removed, shaped and attached to rebuild her breast.
She began six months of oral chemotherapy in March 2022 to ensure that any microscopic residual cancer cells were eradicated. She completed this course at the end of Aug and was advised that no further scans would be needed.
Joy said: "My diagnosis has impacted my life massively.
"The chemotherapy was hard and because I had a reaction to it, they had to give me a lot of steroids, which caused quite a few side effects.
"I would be wired and wouldn't be able to sleep and then when I stopped them, I had a 'steroid crash', which meant I was exhausted and would spend the next few days in bed.
"But nothing really prepared me for the psychological effects of the surgery.
"Obviously, I see the scar on my stomach which is from the left side all the way across to the right, so it's literally like I've been cut in half. It is healing really well.
"The psychological effects of the scarring have been quite hard to process and accept because it's a permanent reminder of the fact that I have had breast cancer."
"And then coming up to next year, I have to make a decision on the other side, hopefully I can just have an implant there so it would be less invasive surgery and scarring."
Joy, who has fundraised to support charities that support those with cancer, and is keen to spread the message about the importance of remaining vigilant to any symptoms.
Joy said: "I'd tell people to check themselves, and at any age.
"Don't think that even if you're in your 20s that it's too young to be examining.
"Just start young and make it become part of a routine - when you're in the shower, getting dressed or doing fake tan.
"One of the reasons why I posted online was because I wanted to try to stop someone else going through what I've been through because it has been a journey.
"I hate that word but it has been and although it's a small chapter of my life it's been one of the biggest because it's like a stone in water - it has a ripple effect.
"You worry about family, friends, it affects people that you work with.
"But actually what I found quite comforting was the level of support from people that you wouldn't necessarily expect."
And while the date didn't develop into anything, Joy says it was a 'good date' that she had fun on.
