As a teenager, the most important thing could be one of many things, from homework to what to wear out at the weekend could be one of these things. However how many of us think to look after ourselves more? How many of us are looking for things that could be wrong with us?

As a teenager you can believe that your invincible, nothing big bad or scary can get to you, your just sick apart from a minor cold or the odd 2 hour bug.

After turning twenty a while ago, nothing really changed, but I did become more aware of my health. I’d seen and read many things that young adults should look out for so I thought it’d be a good idea to begin regular breast checks.

I’d seen a video online after watching embarrassing bodies on channel 4 a few months ago and after watching the video I regularly picked up a routine of checking for any unusual lumps. I began just checking once a month, until my best friends mum was diagnosed with Breast Cancer towards the end of last year, it finally hit me that something like that can happen to people that you know and care about, and it could happen to me. My best friends mum had a mastectomy and is now fully recovered.

My checks went up to once a week, by doing this simple check once a week, this could reduce any possibility of further illnesses that you may not be aware of. I continued doing my weekly checks until I was finally struck with a shock that hit me hard in the stomach.

As I felt a Malteaser sized lump on my right boob, heat rushed over my body as I panicked, it was like a punch in the stomach. How could this be happening to me? I didn’t tell anyone about it properly until the next day when I’d given it time to sink into my own system. It happened on a Sunday night so there was no GP to visit and the Walk in Centre had just closed. The first person I told was my Mum. By then the area where the lump was had changed to red, whether this was because the lump was “inflamed” or I’d just been playing with it too much. I then went to the Walk in centre who saw me pretty much straight away. I saw a nurse who talked to me and told me I had to go to my GP straight away.

I’d just expected the nurse at the walk in centre to give me tablets and for everything to be alright so after booking my appointment at the doctors for that afternoon I got myself upset. Then I told my best friend.

Later that afternoon she came to the doctors with me. I went into his office and I was terrified as to what he was going to say. After explaining to me what it could be, he then went to go and get a chaperone to stand in the room behind the curtain. He came back into the room, introduced me to the chaperone and pulled the curtain round so he could give me an examination. I always thought of doctors examinations as something cringe worthy and that I hoped I would never have to do, yet when it came down to it, I didn’t think it was embarrassing, I knew it was going to help me.

I was given some antibiotics to try and reduce what the doctor thinks could be a cyst, if the size reduces it may disappear, the other alternative is to be referred to the breast clinic. The truth is it could have been a lot worse. It’s made me realise that things can happen to you, so when you DO see all these things on TV about monthly checks, its not just something that you should laugh at, it’s serious.

For more information visit: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/cancer/Pages/Breastawareness.aspx