It came just 16 months after her mother died from the condition.
But determined Lynne fought back and she's now planning a hike around 12 lakes to raise money.
EMMA GREENHALGH met her.
BREAST cancer had a devastating effect on Lynne Franklin.
But the support of a caring family made all the difference.
Lynne's younger sister Lesley Goodrick, 45, looked after her at her home in Kildale Grove, Seaton Carew, while her older sister Carole Newbegin, 51, of Bildale Road, Hartlepool, and brother Bob Franklin, 60, also rallied round to do everything they could to help.
She said: "Without the support of my sisters and brother I would have found it difficult to get through it.
"Lesley has always been the one where if anybody takes bad you go to her house even though she is the youngest."
She added: "My brother always thinks he is the father of the family. He is the oldest but when you are ill he does not like to see you poorly. He was there supporting me. He always takes the fatherly figure."
The 56-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2008 and within four weeks had undergone a full mastectomy of her left breast.
She had fallen victim to the same condition that led to the death of her mother, Joan Franklin, 84, in 2006.
Her father Bob Franklin died 13 years, aged 79, after suffering from heart problems.
She said: "My mum did not get cancer until she was in her 70's and it's not usually passed on if your parents get it when they are older.
"My mum had Alzheimer's so she did not know. She ended up with breast cancer and it affected all her organs.
"It was terrible. It was horrendous. She just lingered on for such a long time and then I was diagnosed in January last year.
"It was just the early stages but it was scattered all over the left breast so I decided to have a complete mastectomy.
"They said they could do a lumpsectomy and send it for tests and then there was a 50/50 chance of it coming back."
She decided to opt to have a reconstruction.
But only 10 days later, when she returned to the University Hospital of Hartlepool to have her bandages removed, she was told of the complications.
She said: "I had major complications because it bled and I had an emergency operation to have it removed.
"They take muscle from your back to front to do a reconstruction. The muscle bled and it was turning black so I got rushed in for an emergency operation."
She was warned by doctors that about one in a thousand operations can go wrong and within three hours she was back on the operating table.
Lynne, of the Throston area of Hartlepool, said: "I was devastated it had not worked.
"It was upsetting to have to have a mastectomy but it was more upsetting when they had to remove everything."
In March 2008 Lynne decided to have a different type of re-construction done, where a temporary bag is put behind the chest muscle and slowly filled with fluid on a weekly basis for eight weeks to stretch the skin.
She said: "When the muscle is stretched then they put in a permanent implant."
To her delight, the implant worked this time and at the beginning of April this year she had a cosmetic procedure on her right breast to make it look the same.
She said: "There were people worse than me. I caught it at an early stage. It's horrendous to think you have to have a mastectomy but I did not have to have chemotherapy which many people do."
Lynne, who works as a commercial executive for Siemens in Gateshead, is now taking on the Grasmere 12 Lakes Challenge for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
Joining her on the 21 mile trek will be a workmate. They will walk across the heart of the Lake District National Park during a weekend in June.
The trek starts from Coniston Water and ends with the Grassmere walk.
Anyone wanting more information about taking part in a trek, should email: uktreks@breakthrough.org.uk contact 020 7025 2426 or visit www.breakthrough.org.uk.
Those wanting to sponsor Lynne should visit
www.justgiving.com/lynnefranklintreking or call her on 07946 644167.
