The Cushing family were shocked when dad Jeffery was diagnosed with breast cancer. But to their horror sisters Shelley, Andrea and Jemma were then also told they had the condition
A mum has died from breast cancer after she and her two sisters inherited the BRCA2 gene mutation from their father. Jeffery Cushing was diagnosed with breast cancer after it was spotted on scans he got for unrelated bowel polyps.
Tests revealed he had the gene which increases the risk of developing certain cancers. Tests revealed all of his daughters – Shelley Raymond, 46, Andrea Waterman, 51, and Jemma Cushing, 41, – not only had the mutation but all had already developed breast cancer.
Shelley and Andrea – who had no symptoms – underwent double mastectomies and hysterectomies. After surgery, they were declared cancer free and are now on a five-year preventative course of tamoxifen, an estrogen-regulating medication. It comes after the NHS warns mouth symptom could be life-shortening disease.
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But Jemma’s tests revealed her breast cancer had already spread to her spinal cord and brain. She’d previously dismissed lumps under her arms as swollen glands. The mum-of-five from Croydon died on July 27.
Her devastated family are raising awareness of breast cancer in men – and urging anyone to never dismiss a lump. Shelley, an NHS administrator, from Croydon, Surrey, said: “My older sister Andrea and I had no symptoms – ours were quite deep in the boob.
“But my little sister Jemma – hers was quite advanced at that point. She’d noticed some lumps under the arm but she presumed they were glands and didn’t get it checked.”
She added: “Jemma’s greatest concern was not for herself, but for her children, who are now facing the unimaginable: a future without their mum. Don’t ignore a lump, don’t think it’s a gland, always check. You just never know going forward.”
Jeffery’s children were shocked when he was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. A test for polyps on his bowel revealed they were harmless – but that he had breast cancer.
The retired optician’s assistant, who died at 72 in 2022 from a heart attack, only noticed lumps after doctors pointed them out, and he had them removed via a lumpectomy in 2019.
Despite finding out he had the BRCA2 gene Shelley said the test “didn’t feel urgent at the time”. But Shelley decided she should get checked out in April 2021 and after testing positive her sisters followed suit.
Their brother, James Cushing, 39, tested negative. Shelley and Andrea, a stay-at-home mum, were both diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and had double mastectomies and hysterectomies in autumn 2021.
“We were fast tracked for our surgeries,” Shelley said. “It was quite traumatic. I’ve had issues with the implants so I’ve had four surgeries since. The diagnosis was such a shock. It turns out a couple of my older sister’s kids have the gene and have to get surgery.”
Jemma was tested in autumn 2021 and found out she had stage three cancer. She had several lumps in both her boobs, including a 10cm lump in the lymph nodes under her arm.
She had to undergo a double mastectomy, a hysterectomy, and nine months of intense chemotherapy, but in December 2023 she discovered the cancer had spread to her spine.
“Just after Christmas, she had a call from her oncologist on December 27 and they said something had shown up in the scan because she had pains in her back,” said Shelley.
“She had terminal cancer in the back. She underwent more chemo to lengthen her life, delaying the inevitable. They didn’t say how long we were looking at with her.
“The cancer travelled up her spine to her brain.” She died on July 27. “My sister was very strong,” said Shelley. “She fought so hard, she was tough cookie.”
Jemma’s four oldest children – 24, 20, 17 and 14 – “understood what’s going on” with Jemma’s diagnosis but her youngest, seven, “was a little bit unsure”.
“She kept saying her mum’s a bit like a zombie and obviously that’s really distressing for everybody,” Shelley said. Shelley is now raising money for Jemma’s children.