My section of the article starts:
Bex Lewis, from Stockport, was diagnosed with primary breast cancer in 2017, which developed to secondary breast cancer in 2019.
She claims one reason for the charity sector’s reluctance to highlight the issues facing patients with the incurable condition is because women who are dealing with their first diagnosis don’t want to hear about it.
Bex adds that many women report the support networks of other primary breast cancer patients disappear when they get a secondary diagnosis.
I am very thankful that I DO have a number of friends with primary breast cancer who are very much still within my support/friendship circle, and who are very aware that there’s a 30% chance that their cancer could metastasize (this does mean there’s a 70% chance that it won’t, although many remain fearful!). We don’t want people to put their lives on hold and live in fear (we’re trying to be #BusyLivingWithMets), but we do want them to be aware of the red flag symptoms, especially as many GPs seem not to connect symptoms with previous breast cancer diagnoses.
