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The Hull North MP, Diana Johnson, has credited breast cancer screening with saving her life. She was called for her first mammogram, a special type of x-ray, in 2016 having just turned 50 years old. She says "I went along for the mammogram, I didn't have any concerns at all, I didn't have any lumps or anything that would indicate that there was a problem. I felt perfectly well. And then a couple of weeks later I got a letter to say could I come back in and that they wanted to do some further tests. They did the tests and they discovered that I had breast cancer." Diana Johnson describes receiving the news as a shock, especially having lost her Mother to cancer when she was 16 years old. She says coming to terms with being diagnosed with the disease takes a while and that this is the reason she has never spoken about it publically before now. Having received radiotherapy treatment and surgery to help her recover, she says "I felt very lucky actually that I'd had that picked up so soon and I was fortunate because it was picked up in the early stages that I had to have two lots of surgery and I had to have radiotherapy but I didn't have to have chemotherapy so I wasn't obviously ill, I didn't lose my hair as many cancer patients do." Diana Johnson continued to work as a Member of Parliament representing her Hull North constituency whilst undergoing treatment for breast cancer and she praises the NHS staff members who helped her throughout saying "The doctors and nurses who looked after me were just incredible." She adds "That screening programme and going along for a mammogram, I think, saved my life. And I want to encourage women to always go and have their screening appointments whether it鈥檚 a mammogram or a cervical smear test, it can save lives."

More information about breast cancer screening can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-cancer-screening/