A MUM diagnosed with incurable breast cancer fears she won't see her little girl grow up, after she mistook her symtoms for the flu. Kelly Bawcombe was washing herself in the shower one evening in March when she felt a small, grape-sized lump in her right armpit. The 39-year-old believed the mass to be a sign of her being "under the weather" but when it grew to the size of a golf ball in two weeks, she was prompted to see her GP.
There, she was immediately referred to the breast clinic where she had a mammogram and underwent two biopsies. Two days later, Kelly was told she had breast cancer, just like Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding . Doctors told her the disease had already spread to her bones and liver.
The mum-of-one said she had no symptoms in the months leading up to her diagnosis - and believed the armpit lump to raised lymph nodes as a result of flu. But she urges other woman to check themselves properly when in the shower. Kelly, from Watford, Hertfordshire, said: "If I could give any advice, I would tell people to get rid of any body puffs and wash yourself with your hands so you can feel any lumps or masses on you.
"The nurse said there's just been an influx of young people with breast cancer. You never think it'll happen to you at this age in your 30s. I never thought it would be something this serious.
"I say to anyone now, don't dismiss it, go to your GP and get a biopsy straight away." Kelly hopes to see her seven-year-old daughter Megan grow up despite being t.