Strictly Come Dancing favourite Amy Dowden revealed she had cancer last month, and has now updated fans on her recent surgery.
The 32-year-old found a lump in her breast just one day before her honeymoon to The Maldives with her new husband Ben Jones and saw a doctor upon her return.
Amy, who has been on the BBC dance competition since 2017 and partnered with celebrities including Tom Fletcher and James Bye, underwent a single mastectomy one week ago to combat grade three cancer.
The surgeons removed two tumours, three cancer ‘specks’, and some lymph nodes from her right breast, and Amy is now at home recovering.
She currently cannot easily move her right arm and requires assistance to get ready.
Despite the hardship, she explains that ‘this is the first day I have felt like Amy’ as the ‘cancer is in the lab now’.
‘The hardest time was waiting for surgery, thinking “I have cancer inside me”,’ she explained to The Mirror.
‘You’re thinking “It’s grade three, what if it’s spreading, what if it spreads tonight?”
‘The feeling of it made me feel disgusted, disgusting. That’s the time I was randomly crying, emotional.’
She will now have to wait one week for the histology report, which will explain what stage the cancer is at now and decide whether further treatment is needed. They will decipher if she needs just radiotherapy, or chemotherapy also – there is a 50/50 chance.
The doctors were able to reconstruct Amy’s breast, and although she hasn’t looked, Ben has reassured her that everything is ‘normal.’
‘Before I went for surgery he said to my boob, “Nice knowing you”. That’s so Ben,’ she recalled.
Amy also lives with Crohn’s disease, and has raised awareness by sharing candid pictures of flare-ups on social media, and fronting a documentary, Strictly Amy: Crohn’s and Me.
Crohn’s disease is a lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed, which can lead to severe stomach cramps, fatigue, diarrhoea, and weight loss. There is currently no cure, with patients offered medication to manage symptoms and often surgery to remove part of the digestive system.
How should you check your breasts for lumps or irregularities?
Discussing the importance of being breast aware, Addie Mitchell, clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Now, wants women to know there is no right or wrong way to check your breasts.
‘It’s about looking and feeling regularly so any changes can be spotted quickly,’ she said. ‘The sooner breast cancer is diagnosed, the more effective treatment may be.
‘Whatever your age, being aware of all the signs and symptoms of breast cancer is crucial – it’s not just a lump to look out for. Other changes could be a nipple becoming inverted or a change in texture of the skin.
‘While most symptoms won’t mean breast cancer, if you notice anything unusual for you get it checked out by your GP.
‘Anyone with questions can call Breast Cancer Now’s nurses free on 0808 800 6000 or visit breastcancernow.org.uk.’
She initially called having to deal with the two illnesses unfair.
‘I’ve had enough to deal with in my life with my Crohn’s. It’s not fair,’ she recalled feeling after being given her diagnosis. Now, she feels anger won’t help.
Amy is also planning on meeting with a fertility expert, so she can give herself the best possible chance of becoming a mum in the future. Cancer drugs can affect fertility.
Doctors have ‘promised’ to do what they can to help her on this journey.
‘There are no guarantees but they [doctors] will give it their best shot,’ Amy said.
Giovanna Fletcher was pivotal in the discovery of the lump as Amy began checking her breast after doing the CoppaTrek! – a 100km walk led by her friend to raise money for breast cancer charities.
‘CoppaFeel! has now potentially saved my life, because I don’t know how long this lump could have been there before I would have noticed and done something about it,’ she explained.
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