13th October is officially Secondary Breast Cancer day – the only day in Breast Cancer Awareness Month that officially recognises secondary (metastatic) breast cancer.

And so, this October 13th, MetUpUk are bringing you their #IAmThe31 campaign to raise awareness of some of the issues that people with SBC face……..

• There are 31 days in October, and there are 31 deaths every day. By the end of the month, 961 women and 6 men will be dead.
• Secondary Breast Cancer is the biggest killer of women under 50 in the UK
• The median survival for people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is 2-3 years, although around 1 in 10 will survive over ten years.
• 30% of early-stage breast cancers will metastasise and become secondary. Sometimes even over twenty years after successful treatment for primary breast cancer.
• MetUpUk believes secondary breast cancer research is underfunded, and that better access to drugs, trials and treatments could keep women living longer with the disease.

#IAmThe31: See Our Faces

The #IAmThe31 campaign includes a video featuring secondary breast cancer patients:

A webpage includes over 60 people who are living with the disease, and shares a little bit about them and their diagnosis.

The aim of the campaign is to put faces to the numbers, showing that the 31 people who die daily are real people with real lives, families, and friends who will be devastated by their death.

MetUpUk demands change and they need your help to spread the word of secondary breast cancer.

MetUpUk would like everyone who sees the campaign to aim to share it with at least 31 people.

We’d like as many as possible to visit the website and read about some of the `31’s’ living with this terminal illness.

They’ll also find infographics showing the signs and symptoms of secondary breast cancer.

My Story

I’m one of a few of us who have sought to give a little more insight into what life looks like with secondary cancer: