An Oncology Surgeon’s Daughter Still Missed Her Own Cancer Diagnosis

Rebecca Jones was raised by a father who dedicated his career to caring for women with breast cancer. Despite that close connection to the disease, the 55-year-old did not recognise several changes in her own body when she later developed breast cancer.

One of her breasts had grown noticeably larger than the other, but Rebecca had not spotted the difference. She also had dense breast tissue, a factor that can make cancer more difficult to see on mammograms, yet she said no one had explained what that could mean for her breast screening.

The situation was made more troubling by the fact that she had received a routine mammogram only a few months earlier, with no suspicious findings reported.

Rebecca, a mother of two, eventually sought medical advice after developing an unusual ache in her left breast that refused to go away.

Doctors initially believed the area might be a small patch of calcification. Further investigation, however, revealed high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a form of breast cancer that remains contained within the milk ducts.

An MRI later showed that the abnormal tissue covered more than half of the affected breast. In less than two weeks from receiving her diagnosis, Rebecca was preparing to undergo a double mastectomy.

The diagnosis was especially difficult because Rebecca’s father, a breast cancer surgeon, had died only months before she learned that she had the disease. She works as a kindergarten and primary school teacher.

‘Growing up with a father who’s a breast cancer surgeon, and I’ve got four sisters, I would have thought that we would be a little bit more aware than anyone,’ she told the Daily Mail.

‘I thought we would be more conscious about checking, but Dad didn’t really talk about it. And we didn’t talk about it amongst each other.’

Although her father worked in breast cancer care, Rebecca acknowledges that she rarely carried out regular breast checks. Her breasts had always felt naturally lumpy, which made it challenging to tell the difference between familiar tissue and a potentially serious change.

She also had smaller breasts and did not realise that the tissue inside them was dense.

Breast density describes the balance of fibrous and glandular tissue compared with fatty tissue. It cannot be accurately judged from breast size or by touch and is instead determined through mammography.

Dense breast tissue can obscure cancer on a mammogram because both the tissue and many abnormalities appear white on the scan. Rebecca said she had never been told whether more advanced or additional breast imaging might have been appropriate for her.

With hindsight, Rebecca now understands that her body had been sending signals she failed to recognise.

‘My breast that had the cancer in it grew in size a lot, and I didn’t even notice it,’ she said.

‘As a mum, I think we ignore ourselves.’

The symptom that finally led Rebecca to seek help was an unfamiliar ache that spread across the left side of her breast.

‘I kept touching it and holding it and telling people I had this funny pain down that side of my breast,’ she said.

After about three weeks, she felt a tiny lump and booked an appointment with her GP. Although breast pain is common and usually unrelated to cancer, her doctor agreed the change should be investigated.

‘I just can’t sign this off’

Rebecca’s GP referred her to a specialist imaging centre. Initially, an imaging practitioner suggested the small lump was calcification and seemed unlikely to be concerning. 

But another doctor spent much longer examining the area and was unwilling to dismiss the findings.

‘She just said, “Look, I just can’t sign this off. I don’t feel 100 per cent comfortable, and so I want to do a biopsy”.’

Rebecca returned for the procedure, which confirmed her cancer diagnosis of a high-grade DCIS.

Her initial treatment plan was a lumpectomy, but an MRI soon revealed the disease was far more extensive, spanning more than half her breast.

‘It was a big shock, because that wasn’t picked up on the other mammogram or the ultrasound either,’ she said. 

Her surgeon was astonished the abnormality had been detected.

‘The first thing she said to me was, “Wow, this is the find of the year”,’ Rebecca recalled.

‘She kept saying it over and over again – that she didn’t know how we discovered this.’

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According to Rebecca, her surgeon described the discovery as extraordinarily fortunate because the cancer had been so difficult to identify.

‘She said, “This is a miracle today. It’s a miracle. Someone’s really been looking out for you”.’

Rebecca immediately thought of her late father.

‘My father passed only a few months ago, and he was a breast cancer surgeon. I think it was my dad punching me in the breast, telling me there’s something wrong,’ she said.

Neither she nor her surgeon can say whether the pain itself was caused by the cancer. 

The lump that prompted investigation turned out to be calcification, while the DCIS was confirmed through further testing. Nevertheless, that discomfort led her to seek help, just months after a reassuring mammogram.

‘I have to be well because I have to raise my girls’

For Rebecca, the most frightening part of the diagnosis was thinking about her two teenaged daughters. As a single mother responsible for raising them, she had always seen her health as a priority.

‘It’s always been my number one focus. I have to be well, I have to be well, because I have to raise my girls. I can’t leave them,’ she said.

Telling them she had breast cancer was devastating, particularly because her eldest daughter already worried about something happening to her. Rebecca tried to remain positive when explaining the diagnosis and treatment plan.

‘I just went in with a really positive tone and told them the outlook. I wasn’t going to die. We just all have to go through this journey together,’ she said.

Doctors recommended a mastectomy, and Rebecca chose a double mastectomy to reduce her anxiety about future cancer in the other breast and to avoid radiotherapy as part of her treatment plan.

Within two weeks of receiving her diagnosis in late July 2026, she underwent surgery on August 5, with immediate implant reconstruction. However, the first operation did not achieve clear surgical margins, so she needed a second procedure.

Her older sister moved into their home for six weeks to help care for Rebecca and her daughters during recovery.

Rebecca did not require chemotherapy or further radiotherapy after surgery and continues to see her surgeon, with annual ultrasound surveillance now planned. She considers herself fortunate the disease was identified before invasive cancer developed.

Understanding breast density and family risk

Rebecca’s diagnosis also prompted important discussions among her four sisters about breast density and family history. Previously, these issues had barely been discussed, even though they were a close family.

Their father, despite treating breast cancer for years, rarely spoke about screening or breast checks with his daughters. 

Rebecca now knows her younger sister, 16 years her junior, undergoes annual private mammograms and ultrasounds following medical advice, whereas she and her older sister had never received similar guidance.

‘I don’t think women talk about it enough,’ she said.

‘We’re a pretty open family, but we’d never really talked about that.’

She emphasises that breast cancer history on a father’s side is just as relevant as on a mother’s side. 

‘My father’s side did have a history of breast cancer, and I never thought that mattered – but it does,’ she said.

Rebecca also wants women with dense breasts to speak to their doctors about whether further assessment is appropriate. From her experience, Rebecca is particularly conscious of the limitations of relying on a single clear mammogram.

Above all, Rebecca hopes her daughters – and all women – will pay closer attention to changes in their bodies.

‘Every woman needs to not ignore themselves, particularly mothers,’ she said.

‘Women need to take note and know what their breasts feel like, so when something is remotely different, they get it checked out.’

Rebecca is sharing her story to support Pink With Purpose, a fundraising event for Breast Cancer Trials. 

Hundreds of women will gather in matching pink sports bras for a record attempt to form one giant human heart on Manly Beach on Saturday, October 31.