Amy Dowden put into menopause in ‘toughest year of her life’ amid cancer battle
Strictly Come Dancing sweetheart Amy Dowden has emotionally revealed how undergoing treatment for breast cancer has resulted in the “toughest year” of her life.
The pro dancer, 33, appeared on the Stand Up To Cancer live show at the Francis Crick Institute to celebrate a decade of the appeal for Cancer Research UK.
Proudly showing off her shaved head, Amy looked sensational as she sported a blue blazer and matching trousers, while chatting to presenter Davina McCall.
The star, who will undergo her last chemotherapy session on Thursday explained how she was excitedly looking forward to being able to “ring that chemo bell”, at the end of her treatment cycle.
“It has been the toughest year of my life but I’m just really hoping with the surgery that I’ve already had and the chemo that I’ve done enough,” she said.
Amy then went on to recall some of her more terrifying experiences this year, as she recalled each hurdle she had overcome in her cancer treatment journey, adding: “I’ve had sepsis, blood clots, I’ve had to have hormone treatment then been put into menopause.
“When I sat in that room and the doctors said, ‘Amy, yes you have cancer’, that was one stab, and then, ‘What’s your fertility plans?’, because I’ve got an oestrogen-fed cancer and they need to shut my ovaries down, basically, and my husband is next to me and we’ve only been married a couple of months.
“It’s just heart-breaking and that is something I never knew and the impact emotionally, it has just been so tough.”
As a result of her cancer, Amy announced in June that she had undergone a mastectomy after discovering she had stage three breast tumour.
She said: “You don’t get mammograms in the UK until you’re in your 50s, I would never have thought at 32 I was going to get diagnosed with breast cancer.
“If I wasn’t checking myself I would never have found it. If you’re not checking yourself, who is? Get to know your own chest.”
Following the early intervention of specialists, Amy stands a very good chance of recovery, with the NHS in particular having been a vital source of support.
Describing just how much they had helped her, Amy also paid tribute to the doctors, nurses and radiographers that had all been “incredible” during her breast cancer treatment.
Around 55,000 women and 400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK, with 1 women diagnosed with the disease every 10 minutes.
Source: Read Full Article