Becky takes on The MoonWalk London after a secondary breast cancer diagnosis at 33

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer out of the blue last year at the age of 33, while my husband Mark and I were trying to start a family. A few months later I was told that my cancer had spread and is incurable. However, after the initial shock of my diagnosis, I’m feeling well and looking forward to be taking on the Full Moon (26.2 miles) challenge at The MoonWalk London in May.

In June 2024, I discovered a lump the size of a golf ball in my right breast. Although I wasn’t in the habit of doing any specific, regular checking routine, I was aware that the lump hadn’t been there previously.

I acted quickly and made an appointment with my GP, who referred me for more tests. Just a week later, I had an ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy at a “one stop shop” clinic. I was told it was “90 per cent” likely that I did have breast cancer. The news didn’t really sink in to start with – it was all very surreal. Our only family link to breast cancer had been several generations previously – cancer wasn’t a big part of our family’s story.

(Becky with husband Mark at a wedding, a week after she was told it was 90 per cent certain she had breast cancer)

I had a call two weeks later confirming my diagnosis, by which time I’d had the chance to get my head around the news a little more. I’ve always been a positive person and knew that it could have been so much worse – I cried of course, but felt lucky in a way, that the call wasn’t worse news.

In July, I had a single mastectomy (including an implant), and also had four lymph nodes removed – tests showed that two of them contained cancer cells. At the time, the plan was that I would go on to have chemotherapy, before surgery to remove all my lymph nodes. For a while, I was juggling cancer appointments at one hospital with IVF appointments at another, sometimes even on the same day! I had a bone scan and CT scan one afternoon in early September, having had egg retrieval at the other hospital a few hours earlier.  Because of my age, my doctors were expecting my scans to be absolutely fine.

(Becky in hospital after her mastectomy)

While Mark and I were driving to the Lakes for a break a few days later, we had two phone calls – the first one from our IVF team, telling us that we had nine embryos. It was such happy news and meant that the IVF treatment had been much more successful than we could have hoped for. We were feeling really confident. But minutes later I received another call, asking me to make an urgent oncology appointment. I was anxious and rang my breast cancer nurse, who told me that the scans showed the cancer had spread to my bones.

I knew this was bad news, but not exactly what it meant. I found out more a few days later – basically that my cancer was now stage 4 and couldn’t be cured. I wouldn’t be having chemotherapy or further surgery after all. Instead, my treatment would be taking hormone and chemotherapy tablets, as well as having two different monthly injections. I didn’t really understand what was going on initially – the plan to have chemo and surgery had felt much more hard hitting. It almost felt as though I was being put on palliative care.

As time wore on, I learnt a lot more and understood that the pills and meds they put me on would be a really good way of keeping my cancer at bay.  I’ll stay on the same regime as long as it’s still working, which it is for now. And then if it stops working – there will hopefully be other new types of treatment which will have been developed. Research into new breast cancer treatments is happening all the time, across the whole world, which allows me to stay hopeful.

Because of the drugs I’m taking, I’m now in menopause, so I will never carry my own children. Surrogacy is our only option. As far as the cancer is concerned, I haven’t asked about my own prognosis – it’s so difficult to get accurate details with any degree of certainty anyway, as every diagnosis of secondary breast cancer is very different.

Signing up for The MoonWalk London in May has given me a real focus – I did a fundraising fitness challenge for another breast cancer charity not long after my original diagnosis and it felt like such a good, positive thing to do. Raising money for such a wonderful cause feels great!

I wanted to do more of it and that’s why I signed up for The MoonWalk – with a couple of friends so far, but I’m hoping that others will join our team. It’s making me feel proactive and productive, at a time when it would be so easy to feel that life is out of control. And I love being part of “organised” fun with my friends too!

I’ve never run a marathon, but am really excited at the prospect of walking one. While I’m off work from teaching, it’s given me a goal and is making me feel strong. I’d encourage anyone wanting to make a difference to people with breast cancer to sign up for this year’s MoonWalk London”.

Thank you for sharing your story Becky and we look forward to seeing you and your team at The MoonWalk London 2025!