Lisa Wylie loved her breasts – her chest was the part of her body she was happiest with. On her tiny size 10 frame, her 34DD cleavage gave her the curves most women dream of.

But it wasn't body confidence that led Lisa to pose topless in an artist's studio. She was there to make a memento of her chest, because in just a few days she would undergo an operation to remove a tumour – a procedure that would save her life, but leave one of her breasts scarred and misshapen.

Lisa, a marketing manager from London, was diagnosed with breast cancer in June after discovering a 3cm lump – about the size of a 50p piece – in her left breast while getting ready for bed.

Praying it was just a cyst, she saw her GP the following morning and was immediately referred to her local hospital for tests.

"As I was waiting for the results it felt like time stood still," she remembers. "I just wanted to know what was wrong with me and what could be done about it."

A week later Lisa learnt the worst – she had breast cancer.

"I was numb. I kept thinking my life would be cut short and I'd be leaving my family and friends behind," she says.

Lisa was advised to have a lumpectomy – an operation to remove the tumour and some of the surrounding breast tissue – to be followed by a gruelling course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"My first thoughts were for my health and life expectancy. But, after the surgeon gave me a photo album filled with pictures of women with misshapen and badly scarred breasts to show me the worst-case scenario, I realised that no matter what happened, my body would never be the same."

Thinking of how she would look after surgery dominated Lisa's thoughts in the weeks leading up to the operation.

"Like most women, I had days when I felt insecure about my looks, but for the most part I was happy with my breasts. I hated the thought of one being deformed," she says.

"I love wearing clothes that accentuate my figure, but I thought I'd only be able to wear baggy tops after my op. And although I'm currently single, I was worried how I'd feel undressing in front of someone else."

Then one day, while on the treadmill at the gym, Lisa had what she describes as a "eureka" moment.

"I'd heard of women having casts made of their pregnant bellies, so I thought: ‘Why not have a cast of my breasts?'" she says. "I could create a permanent memory of them as they were before I got sick."

That night she did some research on the internet and came across the work of Jamie McCartney, who made casts of Trinny and Susannah's bottoms for a TV show.

Lisa made an appointment and days later found herself standing half naked in his studio, preparing to have her cast made.

"I took a couple of friends along for moral support and we were all laughing as my breasts were covered in sticky blue goo!" she says.

It took 20 minutes for the plaster applied on top to set. The cast was then treated with resin and spray-painted white.

"It was such a fun, positive afternoon and my friends and I giggled from start to finish. To laugh and enjoy a few glasses of wine with my best friends was such a release from the weeks of worry after my diagnosis," Lisa says.

On August 15, Lisa had her lumpectomy and she's currently undergoing chemo.

"I have a large scar under my arm and another under my breast. Although one breast is now smaller than the other, it's not as bad as I feared," she says. "I hope I'll just be able to pad out one of my bra cups, and the scars won't stop me wearing vest tops and strappy dresses."

Lisa's still debating where to display her cast, but she knows she will always treasure it.

"Having a memento of how my body was before cancer is so much better than looking at photos," she says. "I see it as symbolic of my life before cancer – and after."

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PHOTOGRAPHY: SYRIOL JONES HAIR & MAKE-UP: SADIE HEWLETT AT TIME VISIT BRIGHTONBODYCASTING.COM BURLESQUE BALL AGAINST CANCER WILL BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 6. FOR MORE INFO, VISIT BURLESQUEABC.COM