Amy Dowden's Cancer Treatment Journey - 26/08/2024

cheers Jeff now last year our next guest was living out her dream as a professional dancer on strickly she'd married the love of her life I was hoping to start a family yes but then after discovering a lump in her breast everything completely changed and Amy D's world was torn apart when Tess revealed that she had breast cancer at only 32 years old I mean it's just everyone's nightmare as so young as well however after enduring grueling treatment and rounds of chemotherapy Amy was given the incredible news and I'm delighted we're talking about feelg Goods on a holiday this really is that she is now cancer free oh congratulations look today she's going to share her journey in her new uh Memoir it's called dancing in the rain we are thrilled to have you on the sofa with us Amy and your story is just so inspirational so thank you for sharing it as well at first oh no thank you for having me it's been quite a whirlwind of the last 18 months and actually yesterday my family came and watched me dance for the first time since so and then tonight the documentary coming out it just feels like yes a lot of emotions at the moment how are you yeah I'm doing really well thank you so I still have my monthly injection yeah and we'll do for the next five years but at the moment my tests are good everything's positive and yeah I just feel like especially in this last week being back at El Street at strickly dancing again I really feel like the old am is back good because we talk about the physical aspects of cancer treatment but the the mental aspects it's it's hard work isn't it it really is and I talk quite a bit about it in my book and the tools I've used throughout my life through growing up with crohn's disease the dancing Journey um yeah it is tough and sometimes I think it's harder than the physical side of things and what was really tough last year was watching my best friends dancing on Strictly and I just wanted to be there with them I knew when you know the warm-up songs are going on what it's like walking down the stairs and yeah so it was really really and also you forget the impact it has on your loved ones as well during a cancer diagnosis it's really tough I feel like you you've had such such a long journey and a hard journey and and I would do appreciate that you've shared a lot of this on social and and you know on telly as well but for those who don't know the story just tell us like how did it all how did you find out you had breast cancer to start yeah so I was paided with Tom Fletcher on shle dancing and the Fletcher has welcomed me into their family home and I become really close to javanna Fletcher and she got me on the copper Field track and whilst I was there I was like hang on I'm a bit of a hypocrite I'm here getting everybody to Copperfield to check their chests and I don't check myself no and then a few months later unfortunately I found a lump so really strictly kind of Saved My Life by per me with Tom Fletcher because had I not been checking I wouldn't be sat here right now um but it was the day before I went on my honeymoon I found it still went on my honeymoon um and then I went to the GP straight afterwards and did you tell your other half no there's no way he would have been on that honeymon he would have just been in panic and I knew in my head I just I just had this gut feeling people often say that how quickly does everything happen once you've been diagnosed so once you've been diagnosed then there's more tests and is when you're in limbo to be honest with you um and I talk about it in the book about you know you just feel lost you're unsure and I was waking up every night thinking I've got cancer inside of me I just want it out um and you nothing could be Quicken almost nothing happen soon enough and until all the doctors they know you got cancer but there's different types of cancer they've got to you know check it's not spread and everything like that so you don't even know the plan to begin with um and then I had surgery and that's then after that when they found out I had more than they realized and I had duct and lobular they did know about the lobular cancer that I was then going to start chemotherapy so as well with a cancer diagnosis you get given a plan but it can quickly change at first I was having a lump ECT toy radiotherapy and and 5 years of treatment um to keep me in a menopause because I've got a hormone fed cancer but then all of a sudden I'm getting a masectomy then I'm having chemotherapy because at first I thought I was going to be able to do strictly when I was diagnosed because I thought the time scale work quite well so yeah you also need to be prepared for a lot of change in the plan along and I always say every cancer diagnosis is different um to each individual um and to bear that in mind for everybody and the doctors who saved my life the incredible nurses on the Sheldon unit you know they go above and beyond and I'm forever grateful for giving me another shot of life cuz you were quite nervous weren't you about the chemo and you were thinking no I'm not doing it because that will ruin other things in my life yeah and was it the family member that sort of persuaded you so um it was my friend one of my best friends Jenny who'd just been through breast cancer herself and had chemotherapy and she kind of pushed me through the doors on that first day and she kept saying look at me now two years later look at my hair you know you've seen it but also I saw what she had to go through which was so tough yeah um yeah she was a rock and um yeah Ben my husband and I are so lucky for all the love and support we received from our loved ones I don't think either of us would have got through the last year without them it really takes a village it really does yeah we are we're Super Lucky and grateful and watching the documentary and doing the book was like therapy actually for me you forget actually how much you've actually been through because at the time you're on survival mode just getting from one appointment to the next one chemo to the next um and yeah and watching it back and doing the book you're like did I really go through all that it's kind of so real well I bet it is because it would all just be a blur it's all just happened hasn't it and you just had to take in all this new information so the documentary is tonight 8:00 on BBC 1 yes let's have a little look at this because it's honestly such an emotional Journey come on it's fine Mom I can do this today honestly the the first one's the worst and then you know what to expect he fine I really don't want to do this nobody ever does but you can do it it's your strong you can do this you can you feel like you have no control over anything but the one thing I could fight for was my hair yeah on that side yeah okay so scalp coer on you feel it how cold it is MHM you're putting on that's to cool the scalp and the hope of keeping your hair is that what's happening um but unfortunately by about Kem four I'd already lost a lot of hair had a quite a big ball patch on the top of my head and um when you have the cold cap you wear it for 30 minutes before the whole of the treatment in an hour and a half afterwards and your hair is like ice taking her off and my body had already been through so much I had sepsis and when I went into septic shock and I needed care of intensive care to get involved um I had blood clots my body had been so through so much and on my fourth Kema i' gone in I'd started being sick and my body couldn't take it anymore and my friend Carla was with me he's also my hairdresser and you see in the film and I talk about my hair Journey a lot in the book um we had to make the ultimate decision to take a cold cap off and that decision because I knew going home that night I cried so much knowing that that's it now I've got a couple of days until I'm completely bowled and I guess I was just trying to hang on to a little bit of me so much is taken away I'd already lost my boob had lost my dancing and I didn't know was I ever going to get back to it yeah I was just trying to hang on to that little bit of me and I did I found it really hard so I was doing a cold cap to try and keep my hair keep my I think anyone would and coming from a girl's point of view you know your hair is part of who you are and and it can sound so insignificant when you're thinking about all this other stuff to do with cancer but that is a bit of you it's like and this as well it's almost that feeling isn't it what more can you take from me however I would say I mean I saw the clip of you shaving your head and it was inspirational and I feel like it connected a lot of people didn't it and people came sort of coming to you with support and saying thank you for sharing this yeah and actually I'd seen other um Young ladies one of which I ended up um Tabby doing the copper field Trek with later in the year she was so brave and shared her experience of Shaving her hair she give me through a similar age the confidence to shave mine and yeah online I built up such a lovely community of fellow um breasty friends think sisters yeah which really helped and I just really hope through the book through the documentary that you know it raises awareness to get people checking themselves because if you're not checking who is both male and females and if 10 people start checking themselves from the Bucko documentary I might be able to help save one life when you describe this process and everything you've been through it's kind of amazing that we're going to see you in the new series of strictly I mean fair play to you congratulations and you're inspiring people out there by doing that as well you must be so grateful and excited yeah and the strictly family they were there for me every step of the way and um yesterday I can't say too much but dancing again a very special number and the boys the team or picked me up at the end and um and you know run me off the floor it was so emotional it was so lovely and yeah it's it's so so real and I just can't stop smiling yeah you deserve this it's honestly it's so nice to have a happy end this story and see back on the screens do you know who you're partnered with yet so you'll all have to wait the launch the 14th of September we've been working so hard the 20th year anniversary which feels crazy is little girl watching on the screen and near I am part of it but yeah we've been working super hard and yeah just can't wait to be dancing and entertaining and also last year being on the oncology unit I saw what strictly did for everybody and I was so proud to be part of the show that I could see lifted people through what was such a tough time so I'll have all those in my mind as well great to have you back on us so nice just enjoy every bit of it fair play to you thank you very thanks for coming in thank you so good luck with the book the book everybody should I feel like it's going to be such a lovely read thank you so much for sharing you're to buy one as well you're not getting that one yes I will I will buy one 100% uh now after the break