"I can now honestly say that I am living with cancer rather than dying of it."

Sian’s Story

My journey started in February 2020 when I gave birth to my baby boy. The day after being released from hospital I was visited by the midwife for an examination, where she noticed a lump on my breast but informed me it was a blocked duct from breastfeeding. A few months later the lump had become more prominent and after googling symptoms of a blocked milk duct, I found I didn’t have any, other than a lump. I went to see my GP in June and although she was confident it was a cyst, fortunately she completed an urgent referral.

I had a mammogram and ultrasound 2 weeks later, which was inconclusive so they took a biopsy. At that point things started to become very real, especially when getting home and seeing my little boy and not knowing what was to come. Due to COVID I had to attend appointments alone, and when I went back in a week later the consultant informed me that I had Stage 2 breast cancer, which could change to Stage 3 following further investigations. I would be booked in for a mastectomy, followed by chemo and radiotherapy. However as the lump was 11cm they wanted to do further scans to make sure it hadn’t spread. That drive home was awful, but what was even worse was having to tell my family the diagnosis.

Unfortunately I had a few friends who had breast cancer diagnosed in their 30s, but speaking to them in the following days reassured me and I felt like I had dealt with the diagnosis quite well, even seeing it as an opportunity of a free boob job to try and put a positive spin on it! However there was more to come and following scans I had a call from the surgeon to confirm the cancer had spread to my bones, I was now Stage 4 and ‘incurable’, the mastectomy was cancelled and I was to be referred to an oncologist. All this whilst having to shield, and being told we couldn’t even leave the house for a walk unless it was late at night, which with a 5 month old wasn’t really practical. I started Chemotherapy and had 2 rounds, however both times I got admitted to hospital due to heart complications, as if dealing with the cancer wasn’t enough! Due to the issues with the chemo my scan was brought forward which confirmed my fears, the chemo hadn’t worked, the breast tumour had grown and it had also now spread to my liver and treatment had to be changed.

My new treatment started in September, and was very manageable in terms of side effects. Following months of bad news followed by more bad news, my scan in December showed that the new treatment was working and that nothing had grown or spread further. Thankfully it was doing its job and we were able to have a nice Christmas celebrating. Since then I have had further scans which has showed that the tumours are shrinking, so for now things are going in the right direction.

I remember after first being diagnosed and joining forums for secondary breast cancer, that ladies on there had said that you learn to live with it and some days can forget that you even have cancer. At the time that didn’t seem possible, as it was the first and last thing I would think about each day. I can now honestly say that I am living with cancer rather than dying of it. That doesn’t mean to say that I don’t worry about what the future holds, especially with a young child, and any ache or pain, the first thought is has the treatment stopped working and its spread again. However I try my best to not to dwell on those fears and instead focus on the positives and how much better I am doing than this time last year. As much as this may sound like a cliche, living with cancer does make you appreciate things in life a lot more. My family and friends all stepped up and I can’t thank them enough, especially my partner Dave having to look after me and our son, due to not being allowed outside help. This journey has been hard for them, especially with COVID making it impossible to see each other. But we’re making up for it and I’m glad some of them will get to attend the fashion show to watch me strut my stuff and see just how far I’ve come.