“PEOPLE look at me strangely when I tell them I feel lucky. They can’t understand how someone with cancer could feel that way.

But I know I caught mine early and I’m so grateful for that.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March after noticing a hardness in my left breast last December.

I was um-ing and ahing about going to the doctor but then my youngest son Billy (now two) bumped his head against my chest and it was very painful. I also had an inverted nipple and a puckering of the breast which looked a bit like cellulite.

Within two weeks of seeing my doctor I had a biopsy and an ultrasound (mammograms aren’t offered to women under 50).

The consultant warned me there was a strong possibility it was breast cancer and asked if I wanted to talk to a breast care nurse. At the time, I refused because I didn’t know for sure I had cancer - maybe I was in denial. I went back to my job as a retail advisor and tried not to think about it.

So it came as shock when the nurse told me there were cancerous cells in my breast. I just burst into tears.

My breast cancer is hormonal which is the most common kind. There isn’t a strong history of the disease in my family although my mum’s great aunt had a double mastectomy. I’m just the one in nine women who will get it during their lifetimes.

To my relief the cancer hadn’t spread. I opted to have chemotherapy straight away and then a mastectomy. The chemo left me tired, nauseous and achy and I got lots of nose bleeds. I also had to have injections to protect my bone marrow which gave me a permanent lump in my throat and a tightening of my chest.

I saw losing my hair as a good sign – if the chemo was harming my healthy cells so quickly just think what it was doing to the cancerous ones.

One of the hardest things was wearing the headscarf for the first time and people staring at me – I’d rather they just came and asked me about it. I wasn’t sure how my husband Lee would react to me losing my hair but he shaved my hair off for me and kissed my head.

My mum, my eldest son Lewis (now ten) and my sister all shaved their heads too and raised more than £500 for cancer charities in the process.

Telling the children about my illness was difficult. My youngest is too young to fully understand. But Lewis was upset because he’d seen all the publicity surrounding Jade Goody. He said: ‘Are you going to die mummy?’ but we told him I was going to get better and that I was just copying Kylie Minogue who his dad loves!

Things are going well. My second MRI scan revealed the tumour has significantly reduced and the majority of the cancerous area has gone.

Today I’m going in for a mastectomy and to have most of my lymph nodes removed.

I’ve been told there is less chance of the cancer coming back if the breast is removed. If that’s what it takes for me to live and to see my boys grow up and have children of their own then it’s not a difficult decision.

It was important to me not to have an empty space where my breast had been so I’m starting reconstruction surgery tomorrow using fat from my stomach.

Once I’ve had any radiotherapy that might be needed, plastic surgeons will complete the reconstruction work. In the meantime I won’t have a nipple which will be strange.

It’s a difficult operation for any woman but I’m lucky I have a supportive husband. It must be harder for younger women who face having to explain things to a new boyfriend.

I’m anxious because I’ve never had an operation before and it feels strange knowing that after today my body will never be the same.

I’ve always been quite small on top and never wear low cut tops or go topless on the beach but I still worry that I’m not going to look the same and I will have to get used to the scars.

But whatever I think about my appearance, at the end of the day I’m still going to be here.

Keep my boob or keep my life – it’s a no brainer.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for women to check themselves whatever their age. Don’t obsess over it but just check your breasts once a month in the shower or bath. Get to know what’s normal for you at different times of the month and look for any changes.

Breast cancer does affect younger women, I’m proof of that, but the quicker it’s detected the more effective the treatment.

Like most people I used to think the worst when I heard the word cancer but I’ve met so many inspiring people who are fighting it and who have beaten it. I met one lady who had a double mastectomy as a preventative measure – it was such a brave and inspiring thing to do.

When something like this happens you have to stay positive. I’m grateful for my strong network of friends and family who have been so supportive and for my children who motivate me to get up each day and get on with things.

So yes, I think I am lucky. I’ve got breast cancer but I’m so thankful that I found it early and caught it before it spread.

● Living will be following Tracy’s progress over the coming weeks.