Dr Cat Stone was 43 when she first noticed a suspicious lump near her armpit – but much to her relief, tests found it was simply an overgrowth of normal breast tissue.
But two years later, in September 2019, the lump ‘changed’.
Little did she know that this small change would set Cat on an immensely challenging health journey with years of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and emotional turmoil.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the Auckland-based doctor, who did seven years of medical school and training towards plastic surgery before joining the cosmetics industry, admitted she put off getting the lump checked for a few months.
‘I didn’t do much about it when it changed because it was the busiest time of year for us,’ she said. ‘I waited until January 2020 to finally make an appointment.’
The lump changed from feeling ‘soft’ and ‘squishy’ to ‘firm’ like the back of her knuckle.
Cat was spurred on to get a check by the memory of her late friend, Helena, who passed away from breast cancer at the age of 37.
‘I felt a nudge to go and do something because of Helena – but I didn’t expect them to find anything. The mammogram came up fine, but we did an ultrasound anyway,’ she said.
‘The doctor was casually chatting to me about my week but then I saw his face change. He suddenly focused in on the ultrasound and I stuck my head around the corner to see what it was.’
Dr Cat Stone was 43 when she first noticed a suspicious lump near her armpit
Speaking to FEMAIL, the Auckland-based cosmetic doctor who did seven years of medical school and specialised in surgery, admitted she put off getting the lump checked for months
Being a medical doctor, Cat was able to read the ultrasound and identified the signs of cancer. After a biopsy, she was diagnosed with grade two hormonal breast cancer.
‘My first thought was that I was going to die,’ she said.
‘My second was that I was going to lose my breast and I’d never feel sexy again.’
Cat’s job in the cosmetic space heavily influenced her thought process.
‘Because of my job, how we feel and how we look are very intertwined. Society places too much around the sexiness of a woman on her breasts,’ she said.
Cat was quickly handed a treatment plan which saw her endure a lumpectomy at the end of February before regular radiotherapy sessions through Covid lockdown.
The lump changed from feeling ‘soft’ and ‘squishy’ to ‘firm’ like the back of her knuckle
Cat developed another lump on the same breast one year later in October 2021
‘I started on tamoxifen soon after, which put me into early menopause and I ended up with the worst side effects from all of it,’ she said. ‘The medication gave me extreme fatigue, brain fog, and I could barely get out of bed.’
Tamoxifen is a selective oestrogen receptor modulator (SERM) medication used to treat breast cancer. It works by blocking the receptors and aims to stop breast cancers from developing.
‘I had to stop it after three months,’ she said.
Cat thought her life was back on track… then things took another turn. Her father was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in October 2020 – and a year later in October, 2021, she developed another lump on the same breast.
‘I remember having a difficult week because I was experiencing painful cramping and wanted to get that checked along with the new lump,’ Cat said.
‘I found out my breast cancer came back – and then I went for a pelvic ultrasound which showed fibroids and an unusual mass beside my ovary.’
Cat was in the middle of prepping for her breast reconstruction so the doctors couldn’t cut into her stomach just yet.
After being diagnosed with stage 2 cancer, Cat was worried she would never be ‘sexy’ again
In August 2024, Cat experienced strange symptoms she couldn’t explain. She had lost lots of weight and her appetite rapidly declined – both common symptoms of cancer
A deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction is a surgical procedure that uses a patient’s own abdominal tissue to reconstruct a breast after a mastectomy.
Doctors removed the fibroids from her pelvis but decided to focus on the breast cancer first.
Before Cat’s father passed away in late 2022, she decided to go back on tamoxifen to treat the cancer.
‘I flew to Mexico so my mum could take care of me but then I had to stop the medication month in because it gave me suicidal ideation. I couldn’t stop crying,’ she said.
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‘I’d wake up every morning at 4am and feel like the world was closing in on me. I started thinking about driving my scooter into oncoming traffic.’
Those feelings were completely alien to Cat, who described herself as a high-energy, positive person.
It still took 18 months for the tamoxifen to completely leave Cat’s system, and she was unable to work during that time.
In October 2023, a scan revealed the lump on Cat’s ovary had grown 2cm in six months and measured 6.5cm.
‘I had to get a hysterectomy because of it – but then I hoped my cancer journey was finally over,’ she said.
But that was not the case.
‘In 2023 I had to get a hysterectomy because of it – but then I hoped my cancer journey was finally over,’ she said. But that was not the case
In August 2024, Cat experienced strange symptoms she struggled to explain.
She had lost lots of weight – a common symptom of cancer.
‘I went to my GP and expressed my concern. She told me I would be fine – that the chance of me having another primary cancer was slim and refused the tests for cancer markers,’ she said.
Two weeks later, Cat discovered a lump on her other breast and immediately went to her oncologist.
The doctors scanned her side and discovered some calcification on the upper part of her breast in addition to the new lump.
Results revealed the lump was a high grade pre-cancer – which meant Cat had to get another mastectomy.
She wanted to wait until December so that she could travel to Mexico for her mum’s 70th birthday, but follow up tests saw Cat’s chest ‘light up like a snowstorm’.
‘My oncologist said we absolutely couldn’t wait and needed to have the surgery immediately,’ she said.
After the surgery, Cat once again hoped for the best and wished that she was finally at the end of her cancer journey
After the surgery, Cat once again hoped for the best and wished that she was finally at the end of her cancer journey.
‘When they went in, my doctors found three different invasive cancers, and an 8cm lump of high grade pre-cancer,’ Cat said.
‘They also found cancer in my sentinel lymph node.
‘It signified the beginning of the hardest part of my journey because I have to do chemotherapy, radiation, and try the hormone blockers again – even more aggressively than last time.’
Cat also had surgery to remove her lymph nodes – and was overjoyed when results revealed there was no cancer lurking in them.
She will start chemotherapy in the first week of December, followed by radiotherapy in her breast and armpit.
Despite experiencing the lowest lows of her life, Cat shared the silver lining that came out of her diagnoses.
‘I used to be such a workaholic and work almost 70-to-80 hour weeks,’ she said.
‘I was also a trainer and would do sessions locally and internationally and attend conferences all over the world.
‘But cancer really forced me to slow down and take care of myself.’
‘I was a trainer and would do sessions locally and internationally and attend conferences all over the world. But cancer really forced me to slow down and take care of myself,’ she said
The doctor shared that she was ‘angry’ and felt ‘betrayed’ in the wake of her cancer journey
Cat said she was ‘angry’ and felt ‘betrayed’ in the wake of the latest news in her seemingly endless cancer journey.
‘I’m a doctor – I eat well, I exercise, I do yoga, meditation, mindfulness. I do everything the books tell you to do to change your life and avoid cancer – but it still came back,’ she said.
‘But the anger passed, and I’m grateful I’m here and fortunate for the support system I have around me.
‘I had a group chat on Messenger with my friends and every time I needed something, someone was there to help. I always had a few people who came with me to appointments and helped me with food.’
Cat’s friends also created an Excel spreadsheet and had a schedule for checking in on her.
‘We’d go to the park, on picnics, and it was great to make sure I had enough contact with people,’ she said.
‘I didn’t have to worry about any of the little things – I could just focus on getting better.’
Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 if you need support