Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, yet it's still something that people think would never affect them or their loved ones. That's exactly what 58-year-old Bindu Dulabh thought when she ignored a mammogram invitation.
Six months on from receiving the letter, Bindu looks back on her diagnosis and how she fought the illness. She now wants more women, especially ethnic minorities, to stop turning a blind eye to their mammogram invitation like she did.
"If I hadn't of re-made my appointment, I would not be cancer free today. It's five minutes of discomfort, but if it saves your life like it did mine it's definitely worth it.," Bindu said.
Bindu is a mother of two, a loving grandma to a two-year-old granddaughter and a co-founder of a local football club. She is also a cancer survivor. She said: "I missed my original appointment. The letter came and I was just so busy I ignored it and threw it away. We were planning a trip to South Korea to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday and to visit my youngest son and his family. So I just didn't have time for the mammogram."
But when Bindu told her husband, Pradip, that she had missed the appointment, they decided together that she should find the time to make a new one. "I made the appointment and then about three weeks later, after more mammograms I was told I had cancer. My whole world fell apart. I thought I was going to die."
The family trip was cancelled and Bindu had to focus on fighting the illness. Fortunately the cancer was caught early and was not aggressive. The tumour was about 1mm big and was treatable.
Bindu added: "I had a lumpectomy at Leicester Royal Infirmary to remove the tumour. Fortunately the cancer didn't spread to any other part of my body so I didn't have to undergo chemotherapy."
As a precaution, Bindu received three weeks of daily radiotherapy at Glenfield Hospital to make sure there were no cancerous cells left in her breast. She continued: "I have been given the all clear for now, but there's always that niggling feeling at the back of my mind that it could come back."
Bindu's oncologists warned Bindu that her diagnosis would have been a lot worse if she waited another three years for a mammogram. Now that Bindu is recovering from her treatment, she is re-arranging her family trip to South Korea and looking forward to carrying on making the most of her live.
Bindu's run-in with breast cancer has given her a new perception of the illness.
From the moment she was diagnosed, Bindu was determined to be open about cancer and it's this openness that urged a relative of hers to finally accept her mammogram invitation. Bindu's relative who lives in London, caught her cancer in the early stages, had a lumpectomy and is about to start radiotherapy.
Bindu and husband Pradip set up Leicester Bharat FC 23 years ago, where they are still very much involved in the running of the club as well as the adjoined Bharat Lounge. Bindu has taken it upon herself to raise awareness and funds to help more people like herself receive an early diagnosis.
On Saturday, October 6 she is hosting a charity event, including live music, at the Bharat Lounge to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Now that Bindu is safely on the other side of the disease her focus is on warning people how important it is to attend your mammogram appointment and to show people that cancer doesn't have to be taboo.
Asked what she would say to women with an appointment looming, she Bindu replied: "Please, please, please have your mammogram scan done. It could save your life, like it did mine."