Topics: News, World News, Cancer, Health
A British woman has spoken out after being diagnosed with cancer only a few months after giving birth to her first son.
Amy Isidoro from Cwmbran, Wales, has spoken about the anguish and frustrations she had after a surprising diagnosis of an aggressive form of cancer at the age of 29.
The primary school teacher, now 35, was stunned to be diagnosed with breast cancer as her family had no history of it and she considered herself to be fit and healthy.
Initially Amy went to her doctor only six months after giving birth to her son complaining of chest pains. She was assured that she would simply be having hormone changes after giving birth and that ultimately it was nothing to worry about.
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However, following results from a biopsy she and her husband learned that she had triple negative breast cancer.
Triple negative breast cancer means that the cancer cells don’t have receptors for the hormones for estrogen, progesterone, and the HER2 protein.
According to Cancer Research UK, some of the common symptoms for this type of cancer include a lump or thickening in your breast or armpit, a change in the size, shape or feel of your breast, skin changes in the breast such as puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness of the skin, fluid leaking from the nipple in a woman who isn’t pregnant or breastfeeding, changes in the position of the nipple.
Following her diagnosis, Amy underwent chemotherapy - and had to be hospitalised twice after contracting neutropenic sepsis - and has been outspoken about how this has changed her outlook on life. She also opened up about her fear of distressing her kids: Phoebe, five at the time, and Ben, who was six months old.
She said: “I remember thinking, Phoebe's going to see me with no hair and she's going to know I'm not very well.
“That was my worry. It's going to be strange and she's going to be scared. I didn't want her to see me being unwell.”
To make matters worse. she found herself in hospital with an infection in the run-up to her son's first Christmas. She said: "The nurse gave me an injection, and I was crying and she said I don't like needles either. I said it's not that. I need to be home. Please. Can you get me home tomorrow for Christmas Eve?"
Despite being very ill, she did make it home by December 23.
Six months after chemotherapy she had a successful surgery and has been cancer-free ever since.
Amy has also highlighted her feelings of uneasiness during therapy and ultimate fear that it would not work.
She said: "During the actual treatment I tried very hard not to think about what if this doesn't work?
“That was never a thought I could let myself have because I thought if I go down that road, it's going to be hard to reign in. After it was all finished, then I had the realisation this could have gone wrong and I might not have been here. Then it was difficult and I struggled.”
Now looking forward, Amy is determined to continue making memories with her husband and children for the simple fact you never know whether it will be your last Christmas or birthday.
