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Breast Cancer Stories | Emily Frost, 30,
Posted by Claire Boote, on October 23, 2020.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s)
Emily Frost, 30
Four years ago, Emily Frost, a care support worker from Surrey, was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer. She was 25. Yet Emily’s concerns were dismissed twice before the diagnosis was made final.
On a cold February night back in 2016, Emily tried to warm up her hands underneath her shirt. As she did she felt a large lump in her breast. She asked her mum to check – she felt it too.
The next day, Emily visited her GP who reassured her that the lump was nothing concerning and simply hormonal (a fibroadenoma). Emily was told to wait two weeks and she left her appointment feeling positive.
The following afternoon, she found yet another larger lump in her armpit. Emily returned to her GP but was told that it was simply a cyst. However, Emily was referred and, within a few weeks, had undergone an ultrasound and three biopsies. When Emily returned to hospital with her parents for her results (still feeling fairly confident that nothing was wrong), they were told that Emily had aggressive breast cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes.
From her diagnosis day, Emily underwent seven rounds of accelerated chemotherapy, 18 rounds of target therapy, a lumpectomy after chemo, and an auxiliary node clearance of her armpit. Emily also had 30 rounds of radiotherapy, and has been on hormone therapies and bone strengthening infusions ever since.
The emotional and mental impact hit Emily the hardest. She dug deep to push through the invasive physical therapies, but Emily still had to face the fact that life would not return to the normal she had known before cancer. Emily experiences constant fear and anxiety about returning to hospital and deals with ‘survivor’s guilt’ for having made it through her therapies when others are not so fortunate.
Yet despite the challenges that Emily is still overcoming, she has found some silver linings from her experience. Breast cancer has taught Emily to listen to her body, value her close relationships, and has made her realise the truly important things in life.
As part of their collaboration with Future Dreams, Royce Lingerie gave Emily a post-surgery bra to help her through her treatment. Emily says: “The fact that such a lovely lingerie company go out of their way to produce comfortable but attractive bras for people who have had breast cancer surgery is wonderful. It isn’t right that we have such altering surgeries and then be left to feel frumpy and ugly in basic underwear because it’s the only thing we can find that’s comfortable. Royce produce such lovely looking and comfortable bras that help make you feel attractive again.”
And of her experience, Emily adds:
“I can confidently say that I feel like I am a much stronger and braver person because of cancer.
“Always get ANY concerns checked and then double checked. You have to be your own advocate. Trust the NHS but realise mistakes can be made, as is human nature, so you have to really fight for answers if you are worried. You are not alone in this fight”
