Selina Moss-Davies Says Hug Led to Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Selina Moss-Davies says her breast cancer was found after her mother felt a lump during a hug and booked her into a breast clinic without telling her. Doctors later told her the lump was a 38mm aggressive grade three tumour, and that the biopsy also showed a faulty BRCA1 gene mutation.

The diagnosis came in June 2011 at the Peggy Wood Breast Centre at Maidstone Hospital, when she was 28. Chemotherapy was scheduled straight away, and she later underwent six rounds before a nine-hour double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.

March 2011

Moss-Davies said she first discovered a large lump on her breast in March 2011. Her GP reassured her there was nothing to be concerned about, but her mother Pauline later felt the lump during a hug and made the appointment that changed the course of treatment.

“My mum would hug me and because of where the tumour was- it was quite high up on my breast- she could feel it through my t-shirt,” Moss-Davies said. She added: “There was nothing about it that concerned me but she actually went ahead and made an appointment without telling me. Thank God she did. I can't think about what would have happened if my mum wasn't this way.”

Peggy Wood Breast Centre

At the June 2011 appointment, doctors told her she had breast cancer and carried the faulty BRCA gene. Moss-Davies said: “I just felt panic rising. He said it was breast cancer and I can't even describe the feeling. It is like you have been rammed into a brick wall. I had never heard about this gene. I remember being gobsmacked that this even existed. It terrified me.”

The BRCA1 mutation placed her at heightened risk of developing breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers. Her chemotherapy began straight away, and by her second session the tumour had shrunk to 80mm.

November 2011

Moss-Davies completed her final chemotherapy session in November 2011. Four weeks later, she underwent a nine-hour double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.

She said the months after diagnosis left her feeling cut off from normal life: “I was very isolated. I was lucky I have an incredible support network, but I felt like I was on a planet by myself watching everybody else's lives move on while I was frozen in time.” The clearest next step for a reader in her position is the one Pauline took first: treat an unexplained lump as something that deserves a specialist appointment, even after a general check brings reassurance.