"'MUMS do not have time to get ill,' I always thought,'"pens Detrice Matthews.

This time last year, amidst the Christmas preparations, came the devastating diagnosis. Writing so publicly about her breast cancer experience, and giving readers glimpses into her family life, is something Detrice never envisaged she would do.

"Someone suggested I write a blog, It doesn't sit comfortably because I am quite a private person," says the 33-year-old mum-of-two from Guiseley.

Detrice's decision to share her experience with others was inspired by knowing her words may encourage women to check themselves - something she had done after learning a family friend had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

She sent her initial blog to a well-known Mum blogger who kindly posted it on her own Facebook site. The response inspired Detrice to continue her blog and now 'A Young Mum's Journey through Breast Cancer & Beyond' is reaching out to women all over with more than 50,000 hits since it began in May.

"It was the Summer of 2014 and we had accepted an invitation to Alton Towers with some close friends of ours and their children. A few days following our day trip I felt a sharp pain in my right breast, I put it down to knocking myself on one of the rides and I thought no more about it. I must admit after a week, the pain was still there, so I rationalised in my head that if it was still there in another week I would mention to my doctor. The pain did go away though, and so no need to bother anyone I decided," writes Detrice.

A month or so later she noticed a small pea-sized lump on her breast but put it down to breast feeding her two children, Noah, five and four-year-old Isla.

"That, and with all the advice they give you about breast feeding babies helping to reduce the occurrence of breast cancer, I decided to keep an eye on it in case the lump changed. Again though, I tried to try to keep the lingering anxiety in check – after all I was still young?"

It was the slight change in shape and encouragement from her husband, Gareth, to get it checked that, ultimately, prompted Detrice to go to the doctor.

"He had noticed it too, and it had changed shape, not by much – pea sized to kidney bean shaped. ‘Best get that looked at’ he said in passing, and that was it…

"The thoughts lingered, enough to prompt a visit to the doctors to check it out. Even then, it felt silly and irrational, slightly embarrassing too but I decided firmly in my head that it was better to have someone tell you everything was alright than to make a mistake that could cost you everything.

"The element of luck – was that I listened to my husband that day, that I ignored any embarrassment that I may have felt, and most importantly that I made the trip to the doctors straight after the ‘school run’ instead of rushing to work that day… the rest as they say is history."

Recalling the diagnosis, Detrice says she was in disbelief. She was 32 at the time - not that age is a barrier as cancer can affect anyone, regardless of age.

Through her blog, which she began writing following her mastectomy, Detrice talks openly and honestly but with a gentle delivery of the impact it had on her and her family.

She shares her emotions in the hope that she can help someone in a similar experience to cope. "I'm not the type of person who would go to group therapy, they offer lots of good things, but I find writing is my thing and it helps me deal with it all.

"It is really therapeutic and I enjoy it," says Detrice.

She says writing the blog has also helped her cope with the lows of her treatment, especially when she receives random messages lifting her spirits. "It's really cheered me up to think the reason why I wanted to write it was to help one other person. One of the days on chemo when I was quite poorly someone sent a message to say 'thank you, I have read this and it has really helped me," says Detrice.

"I want to raise awareness because I think there are a lot of women my age and younger who just don't think it happens to people our age and it does."

To read Detrice's inspirational blog visit detricematthews.wordpress.com or follow her on Facebook - facebook.com/detricem