Jo Taylor’s infographic on the red flag signs for metastatic breast cancer is a brilliant resource and one that should be shared far and wide, but this is my story about being so lucky to have been diagnosed before I had any of the warning signs.
I was diagnosed with primary breast cancer in 2018 and given the “all clear” in 2019 after chemo, surgery and radiotherapy. I’d never been shown Jo’s red flag signs, and no one in the NHS or Macmillan ever mentioned the risk of metastatic breast cancer but I’d read about it and it terrified me.
A year on from finishing active treatment, I had a clear mammogram, was on Tamoxifen and doing well. So, I thought it would be a good time to move jobs and home … to have an adventure after supposedly defeating cancer. I work in students’ unions which is a bit niche. In July 2021 I got a job at the University of Plymouth Students’ Union. I was so excited about a new challenge in a new city by the sea. However, in August 2021 just as I was about to move 260 miles from Leeds to Plymouth to start my new life, I had to have a scan for suspected appendicitis. The results were “yes you’ve got appendicitis but also there are two areas of concern in your lung and your liver”. I was so shocked … I felt well and I had none of the red flags. I was so angry that my new adventure had been hijacked by cancer before it had even started. Instead of having a lovely time exploring a new city and settling into a new job I was having to visit a new oncology department and meet a new oncologist in a new hospital, to be told I’d got metastatic breast cancer. I also then had to tell my new employers about my diagnosis. They were incredibly supportive, but I felt very guilty about it – I had been employed to provide some stability to the organisation and here I was telling them I had got incurable cancer.
It has taken me a long time to appreciate that I am really lucky that my metastatic breast cancer was picked up on the appendicitis scan. Initially, I was so annoyed that my new adventure had been ruined by cancer. However, I now feel thankful that it was picked up early and long before any of the red flags which meant that my tumours were small, treatment started early and I’m able to live a pretty normal life. 3 years on from my diagnosis I still don’t have any symptoms of cancer, and I just have to manage the side effects of my chemo. The nodule in my lung has disappeared and treatment is keeping the tumours in my liver under control.
Who Really Cares?
Nicky Goldthorpe
Twitter, Instagram, facebook @nickygoldthorpe