My boob job saved my life - having E-cup implants revealed the deadliest form of breast cancer

A 32-year-old glamour model has claimed having a boob job saved her life—as the op led to the early discovery of the deadliest type of breast cancer.

Tayla Gardiner first noticed a lump in her right breast while showering in January and immediately contacted her GP for a check up. 

She was referred to a breast clinic where tests revealed she had triple-negative breast cancer—one of the most difficult to treat forms of the disease. 

While the lump was just 17mm—around the size of a grape—Tayla believes her breast implant, which gave her an E cup bust, pushed it forward, making it more prominent.

Today, she is optimistic the cancer has been picked up early enough to give her treatment a fighting chance. 

The mother-of-one from Gravesend, Kent, said: 'In January I found a little lump and got itchiness in my right breast. I thought it was a cyst or damaged tissue.

'I saw a female doctor, she felt my breast, said it was very small, and that maybe it was an infection. 

'She did a referral anyway just to make sure it was okay and thank God she did that.

'Three weeks later I found I had breast cancer, it was such a shock.

'It's small, it's only 17cm at the moment but I think because the breast implants I have are quite big, you can notice the implant more because it's pushing it forward.

'I think that helped find the lump because they say to check your boobs and you know if you have lumpy boobs that something isn't right.

'I can't put into words how I felt. The first thing I asked was, 'am I going to die?'.'

Tayla, who first underwent a breast augmentation in 2014, admits she worries about whether the rupture caused her cancer. 

'I kept getting kidney and water infections and I went to have a full CT scan, which found my right breast had ruptured,' she recalled. 

'They took the implant out and it was yellow, it was so painful because of how long it was there for.

'I got two breast infections in August and December.

'It's such a coincidence that [the cancer] happened in my right breast where it ruptured.'

Now waiting to see what course of treatment she needs Tayla, who suffered no other symptoms apart from tiredness, is now urging people to check their breasts regularly.

Tayla said: 'It's all a blur at the moment, it's a waiting game.

'I'm waiting to hear from my consultant to find out if I need to have a lumpectomy, a mastectomy, chemo or radiotherapy.

'I don't feel unwell, I feel tired but I wouldn't know that's there.

'Apart from the lump I wouldn't know it's cancer.'

Triple negative breast cancer accounts for roughly one in ten breast cancer cases, and has one of the worst outlooks for all forms of the disease. 

It is typically more aggressive, meaning it's more likely to grow and spread rapidly, and it's also more likely to come back after treatment.

It is also more common in women under 40 and disproportionately affects black women. 

Just two thirds of women with triple negative breast cancer survive more than five years. 

However if the disease is picked up in later stages, once the cancer has begun to spread, the prognosis can be bleak. 

As few as one in ten women with advanced triple negative breast cancer live for five years. 

Despite this, Tayla, who is awaiting surgery, is optimistic: 'You only have one life and you don't think about it but when you get diagnosed you start seeing life in a different way.

'Every day I just walk around thinking "I have this cancer in my breast and I just want to cut it out".

'If I left that for a year I don't know where I would have been by then.

'We know our bodies. If you have any little thing, if you feel something isn't right, go straight to the doctors and get it checked.

'Don't wait. Don't leave it. Even if you feel a bit silly.'