30-year-old mum Georgina Haywood was given a devastating diagnosis after she put down her feeling tired all the time to being due to sleepness nights with her toddler
A mum who thought that sleepless nights with her toddler were to blame for her exhaustion was left devastated when she found out that she actually had an “aggressive” disease.
Georgina Haywood was prompted to go to the doctors after she found a lump in her right breast while shaving her armpit in October 2025. The 30-year-old says she had also been experiencing a “tingling and itching” feeling in her breast, as well as tiredness.
Georgina says she blamed the tiredness on sleepless nights with her two-year-old daughter, who had been waking her up several times a night. But after finding the lump, Georgina decided to make an appointment with her GP who referred her for a biopsy.
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On November 26, Georgina received the devastating diagnosis of breast cancer. The mum-of-two has since made the difficult decision to undergo a mastectomy for her ‘peace of mind’ and to reduce the chances of the cancer returning in the future.
Georgina is now waiting for her cancer to be staged, which establishes how large it is and if it has spread at all and will determine what kind of treatment she will need in the future. The beauty therapist is urging other women to check their breasts regularly and to go to their GP if they spot any changes.
Georgina, from Leicester, said: “Where the lump was I was having a tingly active feeling in that area and it was a bit itchy. I also had tiredness which I blamed on being a mum. I have a two-year-old little girl and I was getting up with her quite a few times in the night so I didn’t think anything of it. I’d stopped breastfeeding six months before I found the lump so I was thinking maybe it’s just that and things have settled down and something’s popped up to do with the breastfeeding.”
Georgina was prompted to go to her GP after finding a lump in her right breast. Georgina said: “At the end of October I found a lump in my breast when I was shaving my armpit.
“I got a doctor’s appointment and she referred me for a two-week wait urgent appointment. I got seen there and they did an ultrasound and said they would biopsy it just in case with my age being over 30 and because my mum did have breast cancer.”
Georgina was diagnosed with grade three invasive breast cancer on November 26 2025. Georgina said: “I had to wait two weeks for those results and that’s when they pulled me back in and told me that they had found breast cancer.
“It was really hard at the time – I was thinking it couldn’t be real. I’m only 30, you don’t expect these things. You hear of other people getting it but you don’t expect it to happen to you, it was a really big shock.
“I’m still waiting [for the cancer] to be staged now, but at the time they told me it was invasive breast cancer, which had started in the milk duct. It was grade three, which was the most aggressive grade, which is really scary to hear.”
At just 30 years old, Georgina made the difficult decision to have a mastectomy on her right breast in order to both remove the lump and reduce the likelihood of the cancer returning in the future. Georgina had a nipple sparing mastectomy on January 6 2026, which leaves in place most of the healthy breast skin, the nipple and the areola.
Georgina said: “I thought in my head that [the mastectomy] was better because I’ve heard from other people that if you just have the lump removed that sometimes you don’t get clear margins. I thought for peace of mind I would have a mastectomy. I know with having [just] the lump off it would always be in the back of my mind if all the cancer has been taken away.
“It was scary waking up and wondering what my breast was going to look like but to be fair I’m happy with how it looks. It’s a big thing [to have a mastectomy], being a woman and being young.”
Georgina is planning to have reconstructive surgery on her breast within the next six to 12 months. Georgina: “I’ve had a breast expander put in at the minute while I’m waiting for my other results to come back, depending on what treatment I need.
“And then I can have my permanent implants put in which I’m having on both sides so my breasts match. That will happen in six months to a year’s time depending on what treatment I need next.”
Georgina is urging other women to check their breasts regularly and to visit their GP if they notice any changes. Georgina said: “Be checking monthly because that’s something that I rarely did.
“Make sure that if there’s any difference at all – not just lumps – skin changes and things like that, then go straight to your doctors. See what they say and they will refer you if they think it’s needed and if you’re still not sure, push for your referral to put your mind at ease.
“Go straight away if you notice any changes because it’s better to know than to be in a worse outcome.”
