I was 38 when I noticed a minor change to my body. It was a symptom of the ‘very dangerous’ and aggressive cancer growing in my chest

Ellie Rogers was 38 when she felt a lump the size of a ballpoint pen on her collar bone and almost dismissed it – only to receive a devastating diagnosis that would change her life a few days later.

The Melbourne mum, now 45, was busy juggling two children and personal creative endeavours when she noticed something was wrong.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Ellie revealed how discovering she had an aggressive form of breast cancer was a ‘lucky fluke’ because she was ‘perfectly healthy’ and had no symptoms.

‘I got home after dinner with my husband and was lying in bed with my hand on my chest,’ she said about a night in August 2017.

‘I found a tiny bump very high up – almost on my collar bone – and I remember thinking it was unusual.’ 

Ellie didn’t feel like the bump was anywhere close to her breast – but alarm bells started to go off in her head.

‘One of my best friends is a breast surgeon so I sent her a photo of where the lump was, and she told me to make a doctor’s appointment.

‘She said it was very high up, but breast tissue does sometimes travel up towards the neck.’ 

When Ellie went to the doctor for an ultrasound the next day, it was as if the lump had disappeared entirely.

‘I couldn’t find it anymore, but I insisted on a scan anyway because I was sure I felt something off the night before,’ Ellie said.

‘I’m lucky I did that because the lump had travelled down and was sitting between my ribcage.’

A technician immediately said the results were ‘really dangerous’ and that it ‘looked like breast cancer’.

‘I completely freaked out because they’re not supposed to say that – they weren’t doctors. I still had to get an MRI and wait for an official physician’s call, but I was already told by someone that I had breast cancer,’ Ellie said.

She revealed the time in limbo was ‘anxiety inducing’ and she felt like her whole life was on pause.

‘A doctor called me a few days later to confirm my diagnosis, and then I was taken in pretty soon afterwards to get a lumpectomy for my doctors to take the tumour out and test it,’ she said.

The growth was 2cm and it was an early stage of triple negative breast cancer – which is the most aggressive kind.

When Ellie (left) went to the doctor for an ultrasound the next day, it was as if the lump had disappeared entirely

‘I was lucky I caught it so early because it would have been a fast-growing tumour,’ she said.

The mum went to several oncologists afterward to figure out the best course of action – which ended up being four months of chemotherapy.

She said the treatment was ‘horrible’ and ‘made [her] feel like a sick person’.

‘I wasn’t sick when I started – I was perfectly healthy. But the chemo completely rocked me off my perch,’ she recalled.

Ellie said her children were one of the main reasons she fought so hard to get better.

‘My kids were three and five at the time – they were so little that I couldn’t talk to them about it. I didn’t want to worry them, and they were too young to understand, anyway,’ she said.

‘It was difficult pretending like nothing was going on while I felt so awful. I had so much mum guilt about missing bedtime stories or school drop offs and pick ups – I really wanted to do that for them.

‘I wasn’t sure how long I had or if I was even going to make it. All I wanted to do was be around my children. My main fear was not watching them grow up.’

The Melbourne mum was busy juggling two children and personal creative endeavours when she noticed something was wrong

Ellie leaned on her husband and her sister [right] for support during chemotherapy 

Going through treatment was also difficult because Ellie ‘went into hiding’ while she was recovering.

‘I didn’t want any help from people, I only had my husband and my sister. My husband was amazing – he did all this research into effective treatments,’ she said.

‘He found out that the more movement you do before and after chemo sessions, the better it is because it gets your blood flowing.

‘My husband would have me up doing exercises and it wasn’t great because I was feeling horrible.

‘It was so surreal to be a person going through chemo – I felt like I didn’t know what was going on. It felt like the world’s worst hangover and it was constant.’

Ellie wore an ice cap during her sessions to protect her hair follicles and preserve a sense of normalcy. 

The mum received her BRCA gene diagnosis soon after finishing with chemotherapy.

The BRCA gene is a mutation which dramatically increases a woman’s lifetime risk of developing cancer. 

Ellie elected to get a double mastectomy and hysterectomy as a preventative measure.

She revealed her awe that being able to feel the ballpoint-sized lump saved her life.

‘It wasn’t far enough into developing for any symptoms to have occurred,’ Ellie said. 

Going through treatment was also difficult because Ellie ‘went into hiding’ while she was recovering

The now 45-year-old spends her time working as a philanthropist and co-founded the Two Sisters Foundation which raises awareness and funds for breast and ovarian cancer research

The now 45-year-old spends her time working as a philanthropist and co-founded the Two Sisters Foundation which raises awareness and funds for breast and ovarian cancer research.

The charity is working with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne.

Ellie has since moved to Noosa with her family and has a newfound respect for life. 

‘I just wanted to be where I wanted to be and live the life I wanted to live,’ she said.

‘My husband and I wanted to get out of the city and raise our kids by the beach. I didn’t know if I was going to be unwell and not make it, I just knew that I wanted to be up there.’

The main lesson Ellie wants everyone to know is to trust your instincts and advocate for yourself.

‘If anything feels wrong or if you have an inkling, just go and talk to your doctor and get tested.’