Mumbles mum Samantha Ward-Jones thought she had moved on from breast cancer. Nine years after she was first treated, scans showed it was back and had spread to her liver.
Sam, now 56, said the diagnosis in 2016 was devastating. “I had spent years believing I had moved on from cancer. Suddenly, I was being told it was back and that it was incurable,” she said.
Ten years on, she is one of the faces of a new campaign by the charity Make 2nds Count. It marks Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day, which is today.
She says too few people realise the disease can come back. “Many people don’t realise that breast cancer can return years later or that secondary breast cancer is what ultimately takes the lives of many people affected by the disease,” she said.
Secondary breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body, which is why doctors also call it metastatic. The charity estimates 61,000 people in the UK are living with it, and says around 1,000 die from it every month.
After breast cancer in 2007, Sam ran the London Marathon for Swansea’s Breast Care Unit
Sam was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, after finding a lump while checking herself.
After surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy she got her life back, bringing up her young son and working. She also ran two half marathons and the London Marathon in support of Swansea’s Breast Care Unit.
Then she began to feel unwell, with symptoms nobody could explain, and the 2016 scans followed.
The charity says a potentially life-saving treatment was not routinely available on the NHS in Wales at the time, so her family, friends and the wider community raised the money for it.
The treatment proved highly effective. Within months, the cancer in her liver had shrunk significantly.
Sam kept asking about her headaches. Scans found the cancer in her brain
In 2019 she developed headaches and kept pressing for more tests. Scans showed the cancer had spread to her brain, in several places.
She has since had several rounds of tightly focused radiation aimed at the tumours, a specialist treatment known as Gamma Knife radiosurgery.
She now wants more routine scanning for people in her position. “I still struggle to understand why more routine whole-body and brain scanning isn’t available for people living with secondary breast cancer,” she said.
She added: “Earlier detection can make a huge difference to treatment options and outcomes.”
In May, after nine years on the same treatment, Sam started a new drug, Enhertu. The charity says it can get past the brain’s natural defences, known as the blood-brain barrier, and has shown significant activity against brain tumours in one form of the disease, called HER2-positive.
It is the same drug Swansea woman Rachel Davies was refused in Wales for her type of secondary breast cancer, before she died in 2024.
Back in the gym, with a grant from The Tor-Rox Foundation
Sam says she is determined to stay active and positive, and a grant from The Tor-Rox Foundation has helped her get back to the gym.
She says the disease has taught her not to put things off, and that life is precious, so you have to keep living it.
Her message is about more than symptoms. “People need to know the signs and symptoms, but they also need to know that a diagnosis doesn’t mean life stops,” she said.
She added: “With the right treatment and support, you can still live a good life.”
Headaches, bone pain, breathlessness: the signs of secondary breast cancer
Make 2nds Count lists the most common signs as:
- Ongoing headaches that do not go with medication
- Breathlessness or a persistent, dry cough
- Pain in your bones that is not relieved by medication and feels worse in the evening
- Blurred vision, loss of balance or any weakness in your legs or arms
- Loss of appetite and/or losing weight
- Feeling more tired than usual
- Swelling or an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach
- Lumps or swollen areas under your arm, breast or collarbone
If any of these sound familiar, your GP is the first call.
85% living with secondary breast cancer feel pressure to look positive, charity finds
The charity’s My Life, My Way campaign, part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, features people from across the UK living with the disease. It says living well can include rest, grief, joy, creativity, good days and bad days.
Its online survey of 472 adults, carried out between February and June, found 85% of people living with secondary breast cancer feel under pressure to appear positive.
Only 37% said they felt very confident talking to family about it, and 32% to friends. Nearly a third said the most misunderstood fact about it is that it cannot be cured.
Sam Dixon, chief executive of Make 2nds Count, said: “Too often, people living with secondary (metastatic) breast cancer feel invisible and misunderstood.”
The chief executive said Sam’s story showed why awareness matters. “Secondary (metastatic) breast cancer doesn’t always present in the way people expect, and the reality of living with an incurable diagnosis is often far more complex than many realise,” Sam Dixon said.
Last year the charity’s Truth Be Told campaign featured Pembrokeshire’s Mandy Smith, who was diagnosed after her 12-year-old elbowed her in the chest.
More about My Life, My Way is at bcam.make2ndscount.co.uk.
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
