I'm fit and healthy so when I noticed a tiny lump on my chest while lying in bed I wasn't too worried. Then my life changed forever Jo Buena was fit and healthy when she received the life-changing diagnosis at 46 Read more: Mum diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis then Parkinson's disease By Carina Stathis For Daily Mail Australia Published: 08:18 EDT, 28 July 2024 | Updated: 08:18 EDT, 28 July 2024 e-mail View comments A month after Jo Buena had a double mastectomy to remove three small cancerous tumours in her breasts she felt an immediate sense of 'disconnect' with herself looking in the mirror. The then 46-year-old became overwhelmed with emotion.
'What did I do to myself? I feel like Frankenstein,' she asked herself. The fit and healthy sales analyst from Melbourne was diagnosed with breast cancer on January 11, 2023. Just a few weeks earlier, at Christmas , she felt a small but firm pebble-like lump on her left breast while lying down and rushed to the doctor.
It was her only symptom. A mammogram and X-ray confirmed two malignant tumours in her left breast and a benign tumour in her right and she was scheduled for surgery days later. 'I could only feel one near the surface on my left breast - I had no idea about the other two,' Jo, now 47, said, adding that the doctor suggested a double mastectomy.
'I was in denial [about the cancer] and had no time to panic. Preparing for surgery and packing a bag, it was like like I was going to a hair appointment, there was no time to t.