Laura Dolan was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2017. The mum-of-three had breast surgery and eight rounds of chemotherapy. Laura is now in remission and lives with her husband, Peter, and her sons, Josh, Harry and Ollie, in Melton.

“I’d been to see my GP about a sore area I had in my breast. It was cancer,” she said. “My diagnosis had a huge impact on me and my family. I was young – only 43 at the time. I was fit and healthy with no family history of breast cancer. I went from being a busy working mum to a cancer patient. It was an anxious and worrying time for us all.

“I had eight rounds of chemo and then I had my left breast removed, immediate implant reconstruction as well as clearance of all my lymph nodes.

“The biggest challenge though was telling the boys, who were 10, eight and four at the time, but we wanted them to be involved and not feel left out. We still talk about it now and they’ve been an amazing support.

“I cannot fault the staff at Ipswich Hospital. Everyone has supported and cared for me from the moment of diagnosis, through treatment and even when I popped in recently for a little niggle I had.

“Having an integrated breast centre would make such a difference to patients in the future. Having more space would really help with anxiety levels when you go for treatment, and it would be so beneficial to have an environment that wasn’t quite so clinical.

“The care the breast clinic provide is second to none, but the facilities aren’t great and they need to be better to continue to provide that level of care.”