{"id":271751,"date":"2026-02-07T03:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271751\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T03:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:57:07","slug":"auckland-mum-urges-breast-self-exams-after-tiktok-lump-check-leads-to-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271751\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland mum urges breast self-exams after TikTok lump check leads to cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

French-born Coraline travelled to New Zealand six years ago on a holiday to visit her brother. She never expected to meet her future husband Steve, now 46.<\/p>\n

She shares, \u201cI went for a drink with one of my brother\u2019s friends and she asked, \u2018What\u2019s your type of guy?\u2019 I pointed and said, \u2018That one!\u2019 And here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CoralineCoraline with her family. Photo \/ Emily Chalk<\/p>\n

After falling in love, she decided to make Aotearoa her permanent home and the couple settled in East Auckland. Their blended family is made up of Heather, 14, Lola, 12, Madeline, 11, and Chlo\u00eb, 4.<\/p>\n

Having run a salon in France, Coraline\u2019s dream was to open a local premise. Two years ago, she and Steve launched Senso Hair Studio, quickly building up a supportive clientele. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt worked very well until the diagnosis,\u201d she says. \u201cThen we lost everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unable to return to work since she got the news, the couple had to sell the salon.<\/p>\n

Last October, Coraline underwent a mastectomy on her left breast. As her cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, the treatment plan became more intensive.<\/p>\n

Coraline is facing five months of chemo, followed by a month of radiotherapy, with years of hormone therapy to reduce recurrence risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a strong treatment, especially the first rounds of chemo \u2013 they call it the red devil because it takes all your happiness out in one shot,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut after a week, you start to feel human again. That\u2019s how you find the strength to keep going. Looking in the mirror is so hard. I have no hair, one breast, I\u2019ve put on weight from the hormones\u2026 I just feel like a different person.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"CoralineCoraline is facing a series of treatments. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

A psychologist supports her weekly, while small creative projects and watching TV offer slight distraction and comfort. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope one day I can feel like myself again,\u201d she tells. \u201cA normal life \u2013 that\u2019s all I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bright light in Coraline\u2019s journey is the support shown by friends and family<\/a>. Within a week of her diagnosis, her parents flew in from France. Friends bring meals twice a week, and one of her clients set up a Givealittle page to help ease the mounting costs that keep Coraline and high-school teacher Steve up at night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s saved us,\u201d she says. \u201cWith the salon gone, one salary, a full mortgage and all the other costs, things are very tight. The money situation is stressful, so the kindness has surprised me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her daughters know only what they need to \u2013 Mum had surgery, is tired and has lost her hair. <\/p>\n

Coraline laughs, \u201cChlo\u00eb calls it my \u2018boo-boo\u2019. That\u2019s enough. I don\u2019t want to scare them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s sharing her story for one reason \u2013 to help others catch their cancer early. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease do a self-exam every month,\u201d she urges. \u201cThree fingers, little circles around the breast and under the arms. It only takes two minutes. I found my cancer early because I checked.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also her wish that mammograms will one day be offered to younger women. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn most countries, they start at 50, but cancers in women under 40 are rising and they tend to be more aggressive,\u201d she explains. \u201cEarly screening could save lives. Imagine if I\u2019d had a mammogram and picked this up \u2013 I would be in a much different place right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help the family, visit Givealittle.co.nz and search \u201cCoraline\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"French-born Coraline travelled to New Zealand six years ago on a holiday to visit her brother. She never…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2840,74,51,2831,10748,2534,12413,8908,23845,153645,117583,2109,3011,11775,116858,1899,22055,424,39839,153648,2721,111,43,139,69,16156,153646,153649,153644,13660,613,61,698,3552,4519,153647,1354,6730,4741],"class_list":["post-271751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-across","tag-after","tag-auckland","tag-breast","tag-came","tag-cancer","tag-chaos","tag-check","tag-clients","tag-coraline","tag-examine","tag-family","tag-four","tag-french","tag-impulse","tag-kids","tag-leads","tag-life","tag-lump","tag-lumps","tag-mum","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-quick","tag-rewcastle","tag-selfcheck","tag-selfexams","tag-sharing","tag-tiktok","tag-to","tag-until","tag-urges","tag-usual","tag-whirl","tag-woman","tag-would","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}