'I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 10 weeks pregnant'
A woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 10 weeks pregnant has issued a warning for other women.
Amy Scanlon, 30, discovered a lump in her breast shortly before falling pregnant and thought it was due to hormonal changes – but doctors later diagnosed her with breast cancer.
"People think you can’t get cancer at a young age but you absolutely can," Scanlon warns.
"I want to encourage other women to check themselves regularly and to go to their doctor if they have any concerns – breast cancer can affect women at any age."
Scanlon and her partner, Gerald Catney, 34, found out they were expecting in February of this year after undergoing four rounds of medicated cycles.
"It's been so tough, we've been trying for a baby for such a long time," Scanlon, from Belfast, explains.
"You want it for so long and finally it happens – and now, with everything else going on, it just feels like the entire experience is being ripped away from us."
Doctors initially agreed that the lump was likely due to hormonal changed from the fertility treatment Scanlon had been receiving, but she was referred to a breast clinic to get it checked.
"I waited two months for my appointment," Scanlon explains. "By the time I went to the breast clinic, I was eight weeks pregnant.
"I was examined and they did an ultrasound and they agreed it was probably just a fibroadenoma, a type of benign tumour. But because of my age they decided to do a biopsy just in case."
A week later, Scanlon was asked to go back for her results and was ‘shocked’ to discover that cancer cells had been found.
"It was another wait and then I had to have surgery to remove the lump. This was the end of April," she explains.
"Luckily they managed to get everything out. The cancer hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes which I was so thankful for. I got my full diagnosis after that, stage one triple positive breast cancer.
"The cancer essentially feeds off of hormones and uses a type of protein called HER2 to grow. Because of this, chemotherapy was recommended as a preventative measure to ensure it wouldn’t come back."
Scanlon began a course of chemotherapy in June when she was five months pregnant, and will have three sessions before the baby’s due date in October, and three more after.
Amy’s course of chemotherapy began in June - when she was five months pregnant - at Ulster Hospital, in Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland.
"Luckily the side effects from the chemo have been minimal, that’s what I was most worried about," she says.
"But everything has gone so smoothly, the pregnancy is going incredibly smoothly which is obviously amazing. I’m feeling pretty good at the moment, but just so tired and overwhelmed, it’s been a really tough few months."
Due to the diagnosis, she says she didn’t have a great experience telling their families about the pregnancy.
"We had been waiting until 12 weeks to share the news but once we found out about my diagnosis, we had to tell our families both pieces of news at the same time," she says.
"We decided to start with the bad news and told them about the breast cancer and then softened the blow with the pregnancy news. We didn't have a lot of information at the time about my diagnosis so it was quite scary for everyone."
Scanlon has been sharing both her pregnancy and cancer journey on her TikTok account (@amyscanlon_), and says the support she’s received has been ‘amazing’.
"After my diagnosis, I found another woman on TikTok going through a similar thing and it made me realise I’m not alone," she adds.
"When people experiencing similar things see my account, that’s what I want them to realise they’re not alone.
"I also hope by sharing my experience that other women check themselves regularly and go to their doctor if they have any concerns. Breast cancer can affect women at any age."
Additional reporting by SWNS.
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