Amy Dowden, strictly speaking, has opened up about the terrifying wait she endured for surgery following her recent breast cancer diagnosis.
Professional ballroom dancer Amy, 32, confirmed the diagnosis in May after discovering a lump while preparing for her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones in April.
She revealed she was left in tears and worried that the disease was “spreading inwardly” ahead of her single mastectomy.
Surgeons removed two tumors from her right breast, as well as cancerous “specifications” and lymph nodes, which have since been sent for analysis.
said Amy The mirror: ‘The cancer is now in the lab, that’s the most important thing, tThe hardest time was waiting for surgery, thinking “I have cancer in me”.
Scary times: Strictly Amy Dowden, 32, has opened up about the terrifying wait she endured for surgery following her recent breast cancer diagnosis
Candid: Professional ballroom dancer Amy, 32, confirmed the diagnosis in May after discovering a lump while preparing for her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones in April
“You think, ‘It’s grade three, what if it spreads, what if it spreads tonight?”‘.
“The feeling of it made me disgusted, disgusting. That’s the time I was crying randomly, emotionally’.
Amy went on to tell the publication that she hadn’t yet looked at her reconstructed breast for fear of upsetting herself.
According to the health service a mastectomy is surgery to remove a breast. It is used to treat breast cancer in women and breast cancer in men. The surgery usually involves removing most of the breast tissue and skin, and the nipple.
It comes after Amy credited her Strictly Come Dancing colleagues for their incredible support after informing them of her breast cancer diagnosis at a group meeting.
She has since received a flurry of public support from her co-stars on the BBC flagship, with Strictly producers confirming that her position on the show will remain vacant until she returns.
She acknowledged their reaction and shared it HELLO: “The pros were great. They all told me they would be there every step of the way until I was back on the dance floor with them.”
Husband Ben, who exchanged vows with the South Wales dancer last July, also credited family members for helping them maintain a positive outlook.
Honesty: She revealed she was left in tears and worried the cancer was ‘expanding inside her’ prior to her single mastectomy
Happy: Professional ballroom dancer Amy, 32, confirmed the diagnosis in May after discovering a lump while preparing for her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones in April
He said: ‘Amy has been through a lot in her life and, as I expected, has shown great resilience over the past few weeks.
“We are both surrounded by many family and friends who will be an important support to us in the coming months. We both remain very positive and remain optimistic for the future.”
The Strictly Come Dancing professional shared her diagnosis on Instagram in May and discussed the possibility of returning to the BBC show later this year for his new series.
She wrote: “Hello everyone, I have news that is not easy to share. I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, but I’m determined to get back on the dance floor before you know it. Welsh loves Amy.”
The dancer has been battling Crohn’s disease since childhood and said she’s had “quite a lot” of health issues in her life.
She said HELLO at the time, “You just never think it will happen to you. I didn’t think it was possible to get breast cancer at my age. My mother had breast cancer, but she got it later in life, around 50.’
Amy said it was participating in the CoppaTrek! walk last June in support of the CoppaFeel charity! leading her to discover her own cancer.
Close community: Amy has credited her Strictly friends for their support (LR Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova and Amy Dowden in 2017)
Realizing that she “doesn’t control her breasts,” she then made a conscious effort to control herself by playing CoppaFeel! has “potentially saved her life.”
“I don’t know how long this lump could have been there before I would have noticed it and done something about it,” she added.
Amy said she found a lump in her right breast in April, a day before she and her husband flew to the Maldives for a belated honeymoon following their wedding last July.
The dancer said she was “in shock” and decided to keep an eye on the lump before going to the doctor when the lump grew upon returning home.
She was immediately sent for an emergency referral, where she was told the lump looked ‘suspicious’ and to ‘prepare for the worst’.
After a biopsy, Amy was told she had grade three breast cancer, and said her first question was when she could get back on the dance floor.
Grade three cancer is when the cells look very different from normal breast cells and tend to spread more quickly. The number describes what a cancer cell looks like under a microscope.
It is different from a cancer stage, which describes the size of the cancer and how far it has spread. Amy has yet to find out what stage of cancer she is at.
Amy said her cancer was discovered “early” and she is now waiting for more information before receiving a full treatment plan, including surgery.