St. Moriz Glow Check Yourself Campaign
PROUDLY SUPPORTING COPPAFEEL! & WESTON PARK CANCER CHARITY
THIS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
You GLOW, we DONATE!
HOW TO TAN & CHECK YOUR CHEST
Whilst you’re having a cheeky glow up, always use it as the opportunity to check your chest! As soon as you spot a change, contact your GP as it could save your life.
- Look at your breasts or chest in a mirror to look for any changes. Start with your arms by your sides and then raise them.
- Feel around each breast or side of your chest in a circular motion all the way up to your collarbone and under each armpit. Use a mix of light and firmer pressure. Do not press so hard it hurts.
- Feel around and over each nipple.
Guidance from NHS England.
Symptoms to look & feel for:
- Skin changes such as puckering or dimpling
- Unusual lump or swelling in your armpit, or around your collarbone
- Unusual lumps and thickening
- Liquid coming from your nipple
- A sudden, unusual change in size or shape
- Nipple is pulled inwards or changes direction
- A rash or crusting on or around your nipple
- Constant, unusual pain in your breast or pec, or armpit
Guidance from CoppaFeel!
Inspired by Vicky Popham
“If I hadn’t put that fake tan on, I wouldn’t be here today because it was Stage 3”
Vicky Popham from Lincoln was tanning ahead of her 43rd birthday as a pick-me-up with our Professional Medium Tanning Mousse when she felt something not quite right. As she swiped the mousse over her chest with her tanning mitt, she discovered a hard £2 coin sized lump of dense tissue in her right breast. Immediately, Vicky went to her GP and after several mammograms, Vicky was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer – less than a month later. “Any more than stage three, it's stage four and that's terminal” Vicky explains.
Vicky underwent a mamoplastic lumpectomy, 6 rounds of chemotherapy, 18 rounds of radiotherapy and a year of immunotherapy, before she was thankfully given the all-clear. Vicky was also diagnosed with the BRCA2 gene which poses her at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. As a result, she had a double mastectomy with reconstruction along with the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes. Vicky’s family were tested and discovered they were also BRCA2 gene carriers, leading them to have preventative operations too.
Vicky told us that she never used to check her chest because she thought “it was only something that happened to people that were older and more mature” and was “definitely not expecting them to say I had Stage 3 breast cancer.” Vicky urges “to check because I don’t think we do it enough”.