A fit and healthy pilot has revealed how she was diagnosed with cancer aged 33 after finding a lump in her breast “by chance” while watching TV.
Tamlyn Gresser, from New South Wales, said she was itchy and accidentally brushed against the hard, pea-sized lump as she went to scratch it.
‘He felt like a tough pea. But I didn’t think for a second that it was going to be something serious,” he told FEMAIL.
Tamlyn went to the doctor, who didn’t seem too concerned about the lump.
She had an ultrasound and a mammogram just in case and both came back fine.
Tamlyn had been planning a trip to Morocco, so she put that issue to the back of her mind and weeks later jetted overseas.
“At that point I got over it and thought, ‘I don’t need to deal with this now. I want to go enjoy my vacation. “Then I got complacent and life got busy,” she said.
Twelve months later, she noticed that the lump had gotten bigger and started to panic.
Tamlyn Gresser (pictured) was diagnosed with stage one hormone receptor-positive invasive breast cancer in May 2024.
The young pilot noticed a pea-sized lump in her chest in May 2023, but the doctors were not concerned and forgot about it. Twelve months later he received the devastating news.
That’s when life as she knew it turned upside down and she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33 after a biopsy.
The lump was a 2cm tumor and Tamlyn was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer in May 2024, a year after first noticing the lump.
“I was in total shock and had thousands of thoughts and emotions running through my mind,” she said, remembering the day she was diagnosed.
‘I felt as if life as I knew it had been ripped out from under me in an instant. My first thought was, “Why didn’t I act sooner? I’ve had this lump for 12 months, it must be everywhere.”
Tamlyn began to blame herself and regretted not pushing for more tests.
“I was thinking, ‘I should have pushed for a biopsy, why didn’t I do it?'” she said.
“Before I was diagnosed, the doctors weren’t worried, so I thought I shouldn’t worry, I just took the easy option.”
The pea-sized lump was Tamlyn’s only symptom and she has no family history of the disease, so the news came as a complete surprise to her.
“I felt like life as I knew it had been ripped out from under me in an instant,” he said.
‘I felt bad thinking about having to call my mom and tell her I had cancer. “I felt so guilty for letting it come to that and heartbroken because now I had to break the news to my loved ones,” Tamlyn said.
“I kept oscillating between this terrifying panic and then becoming rational again and telling myself to take it one step at a time. I spent most of the night praying to God and asking Him to let me live.’
After receiving the news on a Friday, Tamlyn had to wait until Monday to see a doctor, which she described as “the most horrendous feeling.”
Surgeons recommended a lumpectomy to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue.
Fortunately, “hundreds of tests” confirmed that the cancer had not spread, but he still received chemotherapy as a precaution.
Tamlyn underwent surgery to remove the lump four weeks after being diagnosed. Tests confirmed it had not spread, but he still received chemotherapy as a precaution. Tamlyn hopes that sharing her story will inspire other women to check their breasts regularly.
Tamlyn also wants to have children in the future and luckily decided to freeze some of her eggs last year before the cancer ordeal occurred.
“I always thought that at some point in my life I would be a mother. Freezing my eggs last year was a blessing. “Definitely keeping my options open is important to me,” he said.
A month later, Tamlyn underwent surgery to remove the cancer followed by treatment, which will conclude around Christmas. The surgery went well but he will need regular check-ups over the next few years.
Tamlyn hopes that sharing her story will inspire other women to check their breasts regularly.
“I never thought this would happen to me, but I’m lucky it wasn’t worse,” she said.
Every day in Australia, approximately 57 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and among them, three are women under 40 years of age.
This September, as Tamlyn continues to receive chemotherapy, she, her mother and her closest friends will be hand-delivering a breast check shower card to 57 letterboxes every day all month on random streets across Sydney.
The ’57 PINK POST DROPs’ project will reach a total of 1,710 homes and aims to raise awareness and encourage women of all ages to check their breasts.
‘Having a project, turning my pain into something positive, along with the proven benefits of daily exercise during treatment, are great motivators for me. My hope is to reach someone who really needs to get their breast checked or schedule that test, which is the best motivation of all,” Tamlyn said.
