When Nicola Carnall rung the bell on the oncology ward on May 28, a wave of relief swept through her body. The previous six months - the "worst of her life" - had been marked by nausea and lethargy and eight gruelling, relentless rounds of chemotherapy to get rid of her breast cancer.
All that was left to do was have the bed on which the tumour had grown surgically removed. A blood test, ordered by her surgeon, should have ve revealed that she was safe to be anaesthetised and the last step in the process was a-go."I was hysterical," says Nicola, 36. "I managed to walk outside. My partner was waiting to pick me up. Then I just buckled. He jumped out the car so fast and just held me.
But she returned a week later and was referred to a clinic. It was there that she had an ultrasound and a specialist told her the lump looked "suspicious". For the new diagnosis, on Saturday, June 29, she was on her own. In the days since, Nicola, from Ilkeston, says she's cried all her tears.