Strictly’s Amy Dowden reveals the ‘finish line is in sight’ as she gives positive update on chemotherapy treatment amid breast cancer battle
Strictly’s Amy Dowden revealed that the ‘finish line is in sight’ as she gave a positive update on her chemotherapy journey on Thursday.
The Welsh dancer, 33, was diagnosed with the disease in May and has been undergoing treatment over the summer – recently breaking down as she shaved her hair off.
She has now given an update as she shared a sweet snap to her Instagram with a fellow cancer patient while in hospital.
Amy penned alongside: ‘Yayyyyy my blood platelets were all good to go for chemo 7 and it was lovely @kiimmbo.6 7th too (a fellow pink sister on a similar journey) for us both next session we should be ringing that chemo bell and I simply cannot wait!
‘So good to chat again today all things chemo and breast cancer. The finish line is in sight for us lovely.
Happy: Strictly’s Amy Dowden revealed that the ‘finish line is in sight’ as she gave a positive update on her chemotherapy journey on Thursday
Update: The Welsh dancer, 33, was diagnosed with the disease in May and has been undergoing treatment over the summer – recently breaking down as she shaved her hair off
‘Thanks as always to the incredible Sheldon Unit who always go above and beyond to make us comfortable and happy as can be!
‘Right I’m on the sofa resting up. thanks all for crossing everything and for all your well wishes! #welshlove amy xxx.’
Wearing a a grey hair wrap and a plain hoodie, the star cuddled up under a matching throw blanket to keep warm.
Her followers were quick to show their support for her journey in the comments section of the post.
A while later, the star went on to show the reality of what chemotherapy involves by posting a reel.
‘A day in chemo with me! WARNING CONTAINS INJECTIONS AND NEEDLES. #breastcancerawarenessmonth and I want to show the truth with my journey and hopefully help raise awareness and help others.
‘Remember everyone’s journey is different so please don’t judge. There’s no text book to how you deal with cancer and it’s important to support those going through it their way,’ the star said on social media.
It comes after last week Amy revealed she had a gut feeling about her cancer diagnosis while on her Maldives honeymoon but did not want to tell her husband Ben Jones.
Progress: A while later, the star went on to show the reality of what chemotherapy involves by posting a reel
Tough: She wrote in the caption: ‘A day in chemo with me! WARNING CONTAINS INJECTIONS AND NEEDLES’
Sweet: Her followers were quick to show their support for her journey in the comments section of the post
Strong: Amy has been delighting fans by making appearances on Strictly
The star told Loose Women on Friday she did not tell her partner over fears he would not want to go on the trip.
Amy said she found a lump in her right breast in April, a day before she and her husband flew out for a belated honeymoon after their wedding last July.
The ballroom dancer was first diagnosed with aggressive stage three breast cancer in May.
Amy said after finding it, she knew she had cancer because her mother was also diagnosed with the disease in her fifties after a mammogram scan.
Speaking to the panel – Jane Moore, Denise Welch, Judi Love and Nadia Sawalha – Amy said: ‘I knew. My mum had breast cancer but hers was picked up in a mammogram and she didn’t feel it, it was picked up on her first mammogram.
‘I didn’t tell my husband Ben. I went on the honeymoon and every day you’re putting sun tan lotion on and I could feel it. I just had this gut feeling.’
Explaining why she didn’t want to tell him initially, Amy said, ‘Well, he wouldn’t have gone on the honeymoon! And I really wanted this honeymoon, for a break… What could we have done?’
Detailing what happened when they returned, Amy shared, ‘I had an ultrasound and I’d already Googled what it looks like and I could see, and I could just tell.
‘All of a sudden there’s a breast care nurse with me and I rang my sister and I was in floods of tears and she was saying ‘We don’t know’ and I said, ‘Don’t tell Ben, I don’t want to panic Ben’.’
When receiving her diagnosis, the star explained that after being told she had cancer, the first question she was asked was whether she had any plans for children.
The star and her new husband had not yet had that conversation but it was always on the cards for her.
She said: ‘I could tell from the breast care nurses, who are just phenomenal.
‘They are handpicked, they’re amazing and then I could tell from the surgeon’s face and then he said to me you’ve got breast cancer and then in the next sentence, ‘What’s your plans for children?’, and for me that was just…
‘In my head I’m thinking, ‘What’s Ben thinking?’ My twin sister knows that children have always been on the cards for me.
‘So I was gonna have a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment and then after an MRI scan, that changed to mastectomy, into hopefully time for egg retrieval, to chemotherapy.’
Scary: It comes after last week Amy revealed she had a gut feeling about her cancer diagnosis while on her Maldives honeymoon but did not want to tell her husband Ben Jones
Newly weds: The star told Loose Women on Friday she did not tell her partner over fears he would not want to go on the trip
Sharing why she was reluctant to have chemotherapy initially, Amy shared, ‘I knew that was it for Strictly that season and I’ve just watched my beautiful friend, my pink sister Jenny, go through cancer and she had to have chemotherapy and we did the ring-the-bell party we arranged for her and I’ve seen what it put her through.
‘I was just really scared and I didn’t want to lose my hair and I didn’t want to miss out on Strictly.’
Amy has used her love for Strictly to help motivate her to keep strong and look ahead to the future.
She said: ‘I keep saying to myself, ‘This too shall pass’ and unfortunately, people are getting diagnosed every day with breast cancer – I just hope that I can give them some encouragement, that they can see that I got through it and I got back on the dance floor and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.’
What is breast cancer, how many people does it strike and what are the symptoms?
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women.
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding breast tissue it is called an ‘invasive’ breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in women over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply.
There are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000
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