For Cate Caruth’s 39th birthday, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She had found a lump in one of her breasts, but had no idea during treatment that she would also go through early menopause.

After treatment, she had to overcome the fear that the cancer would return before setting up a support group in her hometown of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the now 57-year-old is keen to show that cancer patients face more than just surgery and chemotherapy.

In mid-2005, while living in Kent, Ms Caruth noticed pain in her breast and by October she found a small, firm lump.

“At this point I was 38 and I was thinking there is no way; I’m too young,” she said.

She got it checked out and on her birthday she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.

She underwent surgery to remove the tumor, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

However, she said she had “no idea” she would face an early menopause.

“All of a sudden, halfway through chemotherapy, I got this hot flush with no idea what it was,” she explained.

“You already don’t trust your body, so you’re already panicking about everything.”

Doctors told her this was normal because the treatment affected the ovaries, but Ms Caruth said women were often unaware of it.

Her treatment ended in August 2006, but Ms Caruth said she continued to fight.

“Any squeak, any pain, any discoloration of the skin, my brain just went on red alert — it could be cancer,” she said.

“That went on for five years and you live with this tickling fear in the background that it’s going to come back.”

Ms Caruth believed there needed to be more support for patients after treatment, particularly those facing additional health problems caused by cancer or treatment.

“(Breast cancer) treatments are generally very successful, but the long-term effects are much less understood,” she added.

She set up the BBC 1-in-5 group after moving back to Bury St Edmunds in late 2007.

It’s an informal group with an additional WhatsApp chat that meets on the second Sunday of every month at Harriet’s Cafe Tearooms in the city.

Anyone can join the group, which includes anyone with other cancers. They can come in whenever they feel like it.

Shiela Lorking, 50, is a teacher who lives in Bury St Edmunds and uses the BBC’s 1-in-5 WhatsApp group.

In late August 2022, she had just gotten engaged in Morocco when she found a lump.

Although she was not immediately concerned, she was later diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I’ve talked to other women about that moment where they say it’s cancer,” she said.

“It is as if you are above your body; it’s the strangest feeling.

“It’s this surreal moment where it’s not your life anymore and something else is in control.”

Ms Lorking had a mastectomy to remove her breast, as well as radiotherapy, which led to extreme fatigue.

Unfortunately, in August this year, while on holiday in Belgium, she found another lump just as she was about to start teaching at a new school.

“They’re a little confused as to why it came back because I was on a drug that (was supposed to stop) it coming back and the radiation was supposed to burn it all away, but it still came back,” she said.

“It was a huge blow.”

She is still undergoing treatment but is finding a lot of support from the BBC 1-in-5 group.

“Their WhatsApp group was just amazing because there’s always someone you can count on,” she explained.

“Virtually any question you have, you can ask it in the group and someone will have gone through it.

“If it’s on your mind at 2 in the morning and you can’t sleep, you can just post it in the group and there’s always someone who’s awake.”

Ms Lorking encouraged anyone concerned about their health to always get themselves checked.

She also reassured those without the disease that they can still have honest conversations about their own problems with those with cancer.

“It allows us to help others as well. Otherwise, sometimes we can feel left out – we don’t have the exclusiveness to feel awful,” she said.

“Don’t be afraid to have normal conversations and tell people who are still fighting cancer about you and the things that are going on.

“These are meaningful relationships.”