Jessie J

Jessie J

Jessie J found a lump, was told it looked fine, and asked again

Jessie J was 37, and days from returning to music after four years away, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last March. The part of her account worth reading twice is how it was found. She felt a lump and thought it did not feel right, so she went to be looked at. The ultrasound came back clear — everything looks fine, she was told. She did not leave it there. She mentioned an achy arm, and waking up with pins and needles, and asked whether any of that meant anything. On the strength of those symptoms they did a biopsy. She said the first person she phoned was her mother, and what she said was that she could not die, because she has her son. She had a mastectomy on her right breast in June, and documented it for her followers, because she is, in her words, a sharer, and she thinks these things need talking about. She has said she was very lucky to find it so early and that it was not invasive, and that she knows there is a chance it could come back — but until then they are living life. Her own advice, at the end, was to trust your instinct: you know your mind and you know your body. Nothing here is medical advice. If you find a lump or notice a change, the NHS advice is to see your GP.

• Breast cancer