'I found lump at 30 weeks pregnant - my breasts were trying to kill me'

A mum-of-two has shared her harrowing experience with breast cancer, which she chillingly described as her breasts "tried to kill (her)" following her diagnosis just four weeks after giving birth. Tasha Carmen, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mum, recounted how she found a lump in her right breast while pregnant, but hesitated to seek medical advice due to concerns over the potential impact on her pregnancy.

Following the arrival of her son Elvis, now two, via a planned C-section in April 2023, Tasha's husband Stefan, also 35 and an electrician, raised the issue of the lump with their midwife, leading to an urgent referral to a breast clinic. After a nerve-wracking two-week wait for her appointment, Tasha was devastated to learn she had stage three triple negative breast cancer.

Tasha, from Bristol, immediately commenced chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments, followed by a single mastectomy on her affected right breast, a procedure that didn't interfere with feeding her son as she chose to bottlefeed. In a bold move towards recovery and empowerment, Tasha decided to have her remaining healthy left breast removed in March this year, expressing that her breasts "tried to kill (her)".

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She now embraces her new self, feeling that she has become "the person that (she) was meant to be".

"I'm so happy that I pushed to get it done, and I'm so happy that I am living flat – not many people do that," Tasha said. "I'm happy in my body. I'm probably a lot happier now than I was with breasts – this is the person that I was meant to be."

Tasha was 30 weeks into her pregnancy when she noticed a lump in her right breast. Despite an instinctive feeling that something wasn't right, she chose not to dwell on it.

She confided in Stefan about the lump but decided against informing her mother Sharon, who is a 55-year-old nurse.

"My thought was, if I tell someone professional and they say, 'Oh yeah, there's something wrong', they were either going to make me deliver the baby early or terminate the pregnancy," Tasha said. The anxiety of the situation led her to postpone seeking medical advice until after the birth of her child.

Following the arrival of her baby via a planned caesarean in April 2023, Stefan spoke to their midwife about Tasha's lump, which resulted in a referral to a breast clinic. Tasha went to her appointment alone for an ultrasound and biopsy while Stefan cared for their children.

"I didn't really think that they did biopsies unless there was something going on, so that did make me panic," Tasha admitted. When it came time for her follow-up appointment, she brought her mother along for support, which is when she received her devastating diagnosis.

"There was a surgeon there and a nurse, and I was like, 'I know this is going to be bad'," she recalled. "They sat me down and obviously told me that I had cancer."

The news was overwhelming for Tasha, leaving her feeling as though she was in a surreal moment from a film, with both her and her mother overcome with emotion.

Tasha was diagnosed with stage three triple negative breast cancer, a particularly rare and aggressive type of the illness that doesn't have the usual hormone receptors – oestrogen and progesterone – nor the HER2 protein that other forms of breast cancer typically possess. This means it's not treatable with standard hormone therapies, which significantly reduces the available treatment options.

She embarked on a six-month chemotherapy regimen straight away, even bringing her newborn, Elvis, along to the initial sessions.

"It was really cute, actually. All the nurses were like, 'Do you even have a baby in there?', because he was really quiet and he was so good," Tasha said.

Yet, despite the solace provided by her baby's presence, she couldn't shake off the fear. "I remember the first time they were hooking me up to the chemo drugs, they were saying what could happen and it just scared me so much. I just started crying," she admitted.

Nevertheless, Tasha considers herself "quite lucky" when it came to side effects, suffering mainly from tiredness and occasional sickness. The challenge of explaining her condition to her older son Rogan, who is now six, proved to be quite difficult.

A cancer nurse handed her a children's book titled Mummy's Got A Poorly, which aided in illustrating the physical changes she would endure. She lost her hair within two weeks of starting treatment after opting not to use cold-capping, as it would prolong her chemo sessions, and made the decision to shave her head completely.

"I actually felt so powerful – it made me feel like I was standing up to the cancer. I was facing it head-on," she said. Tasha underwent a single mastectomy on her right side and lymph node clearance in December 2023.

She then embarked on further immunotherapy treatment, which she chose to cease prematurely in September 2024 due to debilitating side effects such as fatigue, joint pain, dizziness, and a loss of appetite. Tasha disclosed that doctors also detected low cortisol levels, resulting in her becoming "steroid-dependent".

Instead of opting for breast reconstruction, Tasha embraced the decision to "live flat" and had her left breast removed as well in March 2025.

She said: "Stefan was really supportive – it's not made any difference to us. We are still the same people and he still loves me the same."

In an effort to connect with fellow cancer patients, Tasha created an Instagram account and discovered she "wasn't the only person going through this". Currently, she attends check-ups every three months to monitor the side effects from the immunotherapy and has shifted her focus from her career as a dental nurse to prioritising her family.

"My family and my husband are just everything," she said. "I do a lot of things that I probably would have said no to before. I've got new tattoos and piercings, I dress how I want."

Tasha is now sharing her journey to support the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, as they mark 25 years of groundbreaking research.

She urged: "We desperately need new treatment options for triple negative cancer – some people have chemo-resistant breast cancer, and it's difficult to have a better prognosis if there's not more research.

"Just check your chest. You just need to know what your normal is and, if it's not normal, don't be silly, get it checked."

For further details, visit breastcancernow.org/research