I was told my discomfort was due to a bra, but I had stage four cancer

A mother-of-two claims a ‘rushing’ doctor told her that a painful lump in her breast was caused by wearing wired bras—but later tests revealed she had stage four cancer. 

Laura Mcloughlin, 38, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire started getting sharp pains in her right breast and noticed a lump in April 2020.

‘I was getting quite sharp pains through my right breast, which was unusual for me, I couldn’t sleep on my front anymore,’ she said.

‘I left this for about a week and stupidly I didn’t check myself, it’s not something I was brought up to do.

‘When I checked myself, I noticed I had quite a large swelling under my right breast.’ 

Because it was the beginning of the first coronavirus lockdown, she couldn’t be seen by her GP in person. 

Instead, she was referred to a hospital breast clinic, where she was seen a few weeks later. 

But at the appointment Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, she said the doctor was ‘rushing’ because her appointment was towards the end of his shift.

Recalling it, she said: ‘They rang me around 11.15am and said if I want to see the doctor, I have to go to the hospital now because he finishes work at 12pm.

‘He gave me a physical examination but no scans or anything.

‘It was the end of his workday. I was definitely rushed. He didn’t give me the attention I needed.

‘He told me it was most likely hormonal and to change my bras from wired bras to non-wired bars.

‘I have no idea why he said that because wired bras don’t cause any issues. There’s no evidence to support that wired bras cause breast problems.

‘I did change them because I believed him, I left the hospital feeling fine because he told me there was nothing to worry about.’ 

But four months later, Laura noticed the pain hadn’t subsided and her nipple inverted, so she returned to her GP who, once again, referred her to the breast clinic. 

She returned to the clinic in August 2020 and after finally being given ‘all the scans’ they found a 9.3cm tumour and she was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

She said: ‘The pain was still there. Whether it was because of my age I was dismissed, I was 33, I don’t know.

‘My nipple started to become inverted, so I thought “something is clearly not right here”.

‘The GP gave me a physical examination and said she was quite shocked they didn’t do any scans when I first went.

‘She referred me to the breast clinic again and I was seen within a week and spoke to a different consultant.

‘I was given all the scans, ultrasound, mammogram and they found a 9.3cm tumour.

‘It was quite big to miss really. I was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer, and I was booked in for chemo, radiotherapy and a double mastectomy.

‘When I went back at the beginning of September, they said it had spread to lots of my lymph nodes, my lower spine so it was now stage four cancer.

‘I didn’t have the surgery because they said now it’s incurable, the surgery would be a pointless operation. They needed to get me on medication sooner.’

Now volunteering for breast cancer charity Coppa Feel, she has been on three different medications and been put into early menopause during her treatment.

Describing her experience as ‘draining’, Ms Mcloughlin said the hardest part was telling her children.

She said: ‘My kids were quite young at the time and from my whole diagnosis that was the hardest conversation to have [with them].

‘It’s draining, I’m at the hospital every month for injections.

‘I have to have my ovaries switched off with an injection every month, which puts me in early menopause. Luckily, I’ve got two children so that wasn’t really an issue.

‘A lot of ladies get this early diagnosis, and they haven’t even thought of having kids, it’s heartbreaking.

‘I thought I was going to die. That’s the first thing you ask, “how long do I have?”.

‘The consultant said they have no idea how long I’ve got, which is why they don’t give a time frame.’

She added: ‘There’s so many drugs and clinical trials [around] so as long as the medication keeps working it’s making me live longer.

‘I know at some point in the future it is going to stop working, it’s inevitable.

‘I was really scared, I’ve got two kids, my husband, you don’t expect that to happen to you at 33. Never in a million years.

‘Three years ago, I started volunteering for the Coppa Feel breast cancer charity. That’s sort of given me a purpose, you’re literally living from one scan to the other.

‘I’m on my third medication and have a scan in November so hopefully it’s working.

‘[My advice is] if you notice anything unusual or different to what you’re used to you need to get it checked out.’

Karen Jessop, chief nurse at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: ‘While we are unable to comment on individual cases for reasons of patient confidentiality, we take all concerns related to patient care extremely seriously.

‘At this stage, we have not been contacted directly regarding the issues raised.

‘Anyone with questions or who wishes to discuss their care can contact the Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who will listen, offer support and ensure any concerns are reviewed by the appropriate clinical teams.’

It comes amid worrying predictions that deaths from breast cancer will rocket by over 40 per cent by 2050.

There are around 56,900 new cases of breast cancer and 11,200 deaths caused by the illness each year.

Symptoms of breast cancer to look out for include lumps and swellings, dimpling of the skin, changes in colour, discharge and a rash or crusting around the nipple.