Young survivor ignored lump (From Oxford Mail)

Young survivor ignored lump

8:55am Tuesday 10th October 2006

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Naomi Parry was one of the youngest women in Britain to develop breast cancer - now she is urging other women not to make the mistake she did when she first spotted a lump.

Ms Parry, who works for the Blue Cross in Burford, was only 26 when she found a 2.1cm lump but, because it caused her no pain and as she didn't want to waste her doctor's time, she ignored it.

Only after a friend badgered her did she seek professional advice and was diagnosed with the disease in November 2004. Just 133 women a year between the ages of 25 and 29 in the UK are diagnosed with the disease.

Now, a year after she was given the all-clear following chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, she checks her body for lumps regularly and she wants to send out a message for women of all ages to do the same.

She said: "I have no idea why I had cancer. There is no family history of it and I was told it was not hormone related.

"It was quite difficult to come to terms with, but my family and friends were very supportive."

"I did not feel poorly and so was worried that I was wasting the doctor's time, so I put it off for a while thinking maybe it will go away. I was lucky. It is much better to be safe than sorry."

Ms Parry wants local people to back Cancer Research UK's Join Together Campaign by organising a pink fundraising party at home or at work.

To register for a fundraising pack contact the local office on 08701 602040.

Two Oxfordshire people who were diagnosed with mouth cancer are working hard to raise awareness of the condition.

Stephen Church, 56, of Osney Court, Oxford, was diagnosed with mouth cancer two and and half years ago and is working with the Mouth Cancer Foundation to raise the profile of the disease, which kills one person every five hours.

It has a higher proportion of deaths per number of cases than breast cancer, cervical cancer or skin melanoma, but the public do not know a lot about it.

Mother-of-three Sharon Boccaccini, 31, a PE and music teacher from Henley, was diagnosed with mouth cancer when she went for a routine dental check-up.

It was caught early but still involved her in a 12-hour operation which required the removal of part of her jaw and grafting bone from her leg into her face with a metal plate.

Since the operation four years ago she has set up the support group for people with head and neck cancer and is committed to promoting awareness of mouth cancer, which affects 13,000 people in the UK.

Mr Church and Mrs Boccaccini will join hundreds of other walkers in a 10k walking event in Hyde Park on November 18.

Mr Church, who underwent a 13-hour operation after he was diagnosed, said: "I am about two years down the road, fortunately I am making good progress and have not needed radiotherapy or chemotherapy so far, but others may not be as lucky."

Mrs Boccaccini said: "I was incredibly lucky that my cancer was caught so early.

"The trouble is that so few people know about this disease and it is so often a killer."

Email sharon.boccaccini@btinternet.com for support group details and to sponsor either walker log onto www.mouthcancerwalk.org

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