Community / ‘Just go’ – mother urges everyone to take up breast screening invite after shock cancer diagnosis
Former nurse Suzzette Mockford almost postponed her appointment because of a holiday
A FORMER nurse left stunned by her unexpected breast cancer diagnosis has told every person invited for a free screening it “could well be life-saving”.
It was for 62-year-old Suzzette Mockford, who almost postponed her appointment in 2022 because she had no symptoms of breast cancer – and had a holiday to pack for.
But she returned from Tenerife weeks later to find a letter waiting for her from the NHS, urging her to contact them as soon as possible.
Mockford, a mother of seven who lives in Scatness, was diagnosed with breast cancer and told it had already spread to her lymph nodes.
She is going public with her cancer story in a bid to encourage everyone invited for a free NHS breast screening appointments later this year to seize the opportunity.
“I would shout it from the rooftops – just go,” she said.
“People say it’s painful, it’s uncomfortable. If it’s going to save your life, it’s worth it.”
NHS Shetland announced earlier this week that around 3,000 women between the ages of 50 and 70 would be invited for screenings at mobile units based outside Clickimin in the coming months.
The Breast Screening Service visits every three years, with the last visit in 2022.
It was during that stint that Mockford was invited in for a screening, one which she readily admits she was “very blasé about”.
“I never gave it much thought,” she told Shetland News.
“I actually almost cancelled my appointment because it was days before my holiday. I thought, ‘maybe could I put this off until I come back’.
“Now I look back and think, ‘oh my goodness, I’m so glad I didn’t cancel it’.”
When she arrived back in Shetland she was shocked to find a letter from the NHS waiting for her, asking her to come in and see a consultant.
Mockford described herself as being “absolutely shocked” by the message.
“I actually thought the letter had gone to the wrong address,” she said.
“I could not believe that letter was for me. I had to look at it a couple of times before I realised it was.”
What surprised Mockford most was her lack of symptoms. She said she had “no changes, no abnormalities, no lumps or bumps” – and, as a former nurse, she knew what to look out for.
After seeing a consultant in Shetland in late July 2022, she was delivered the hammer blow that her biopsy results confirmed she had breast cancer.
“25 August – that’s a date that will always stick in my head,” Mockford said of the day she was told of her diagnosis.
“She [the consultant] was telling me this, and the disbelief must have showed on my face.
“I was thinking, ‘no, it can’t be right’.
“They said it had already spread to my lymph nodes in my arm, which was absolutely terrifying.”
Mockford – who described herself as the “lynchpin” of her family – did not tell any of her children, friends or co-workers what was happening until her diagnosis was confirmed.
She said she “just hid the whole thing” from everybody, even attending doctor’s appointments on days off from work.
“I kept my diagnosis secret from family at first,” Mockford admitted.
“I don’t think I knew how to deal with it or how to process it.
“I didn’t feel able to tell them [her children]. Just the sheer pressure of it I found hard.”
The social care practitioner said she was initially reluctant to start treatment for her breast cancer as well.
After being given a course of tablets to slow down the growth of the cancer, Mockford said she spent two days deliberating over whether to take them.
“They told me the side effects of the tablet and they could be quite substantial, so I was looking at them like, ‘oh my goodness, I’m actually going to put this in my body’.
“I was thinking, ‘this is going to make me ill’.
“I would pick the tablets up every morning and read the box, but I didn’t take it for two days. I just couldn’t do it.”
Mockford found though that joint pain was the only side effect – apart from losing her hair.
“I was actually losing more hair than the cats were,” she laughed.
“I did have to laugh at one point that I was hoovering up more of my own hair than theirs.”
Mockford was given surgery in Aberdeen on 9 December 2022 to remove the cancer and the lymph nodes from under arm.
Months later she went through a course of radiotherapy, and then – almost a year after her operation – was given the all clear in December 2023.
She receives an annual mammogram to ensure the cancer has not returned, something she says is crucial for her peace of mind.
“Given I had no symptoms, that annual mammogram is really important to me for reassurance,” Mockford said.
She also paid tribute to the team at cancer charity CLAN Shetland, who she called “absolutely great” during her cancer journey.
And she repeated her message for everyone invited in for a breast cancer screening to make sure they do not put it off for another three years.
“Go, 100 per cent go,” she said.
“It’s just 15 minutes out of your life. It’s so important and we’re so lucky that we get these screening options – and they’re free.
“I would shout it from the rooftops – just go. It could well be life-saving.”
The mobile breast cancer screening units will return to Shetland on 7 April and will based at the Clickimin until 12 June.
On the last visit in 2022, attendance had increased to 85.5 per cent of eligible women.
Invitation letters will be sent out around four weeks prior to the screening appointment date.
Anyone in Shetland who thinks they are eligible for screening but does not receive an appointment is asked to contact the Breast Screening Centre on 01224 550570.
Women over the age of 70 can refer themselves for a breast screening here.
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