'I live life differently now' - Woman diagnosed with cancer soon after getting married

Despite her young age and healthy lifestyle, Diana Healy was diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year after getting married.

In October 2021, Diana told the Leinster Express / Laois Live she had a niggling feeling that something wasn't right and booked in for a mammogram. When the mammogram came back all clear, she thought "happy days."

Unfortunately, she noticed a lump in April 2024 and knew she needed to follow it up. Living in Westmeath for 12 years now, Diana was returning home to Romania for a trip when she decided to see a doctor there about the lump.

"I had an ultrasound. The lady that was doing the exam, her face fell and she said it doesn't look good," Diana said.

The then 34-year-old was due to fly back to Ireland the next day where she visited her GP. Although the GP reassured her that it was probably nothing to worry about, Diana couldn't shake her gut instinct.

"I knew deep down that no, I'm in trouble now."

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Diana eventually had a triple assessment of a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy - something she said she wasn't even aware of when it came to investigating the possibility of breast cancer.

"I just wanted somebody to confirm that yes, whatever suspicion I had, it was the correct one. They didn't even wait for the biopsy results. And normally you wait 10 days for them. Luckily my husband was there with me when we were called into the office. I just thought it would be a conversation about seeing me in 10 days time.

"But we were sat down and told straight away that, look, we don't have to wait for an assessment for the biopsy results, based on the ultrasound and the mammogram, it's cancer. And that was it."

When reflecting on her experience, Diana said she wished she had been more educated on the subject. She was diagnosed at the start of May in 2024, not too long after her first mammogram. Yet, she hadn't been advised or told to have an ultrasound following that first check and so she assumed everything was fine.

"I had to insist on a mammogram when I went for the first time. Maybe there was something tiny back then that would have been noticed by an ultrasound, but I'll never know.

"Had I waited another few months, it would have been a bit too late. It was stage two, but I was told another few months and it would have been very easily stage four, which is not what you want. I had this voice in my head screaming go and get a check," she explained.

After five rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, life is back to normal for Diana "or even better", as she put it.

The HR worker said: "I live life differently now. Just gratitude that you wake up and think 'I have another day. I'm in no pain. I feel good. Everything is okay.' People always say, 'Diana, you're always in a good mood.' If you were to go through what I went through, you'd be in a good mood every day after you got the all clear!"

Diana has urged people not to ignore their gut instincts when it comes to getting a diagnosis, educate themselves and push for answers.