A TEXT MESSAGE SAVED MY LIFE

When Nicola Ryder, 50, read her phone alert, it was to change her future

- LUCY LAING, LOUISE BATY

Sitting in a meeting room at work, I listened to the woman speaking to me and my colleagues. Rather than discussing spreadsheets and sales targets for my role as a client director for an advertising company, she talked about hospital scans and chemotherapy. It was early 2016 and my office was hosting a week of health awareness sessions.

Although I'd been too busy to attend most of the events, I'd cleared a window for this talk about breast cancer.

'Always make time for checking your breasts,' the woman encouraged, handing out cards for a monthly text service, run by the charity CoppaFeel!, to remind women to regularly check their boobs. Aged 41, I understood the importance of the message.

Back at my desk, I signed up and, in the months that followed, got into the routine of checking my breasts for lumps or changes, prompted by the text reminder. Thankfully, my regular checks discovered nothing untoward and, when I flew to Cancún, Mexico, in October 2016, with a gang of friends, I felt healthier than ever, having steadily lost 8lb in the last year and dropped from size 14 to size 12, thanks to sessions with a personal trainer. Enjoying cocktails and delicious food in the sunshine, I had a wonderful fortnight. The only thing bothering me was a fleeting pain I felt every time I lay on a sunbed on my front, but I didn't think much about it.

Back home, and feeling re-energised, I went back to work. During my first week, I was getting ready for bed one evening when my phone beeped.

Reaching down to retrieve it from my bag, I winced as pain shot through my left breast, the same as the discomfort I'd felt on holiday when sunbathing on my front. On the screen, I saw my monthly message from CoppaFeel!, reminding me to check my breasts.