A 43-year-old woman who had always considered herself ‘fit and healthy’ received a life-altering diagnosis, prompting her to share a vital message with others.
Emma Johnson, hailing from Newcastle in the UK, was shocked when she was informed in January that she had stage-four cancer, even though she felt completely ‘normal’.
As a hairdresser and stepmother to two boys, Emma found it difficult to reconcile the fact that doctors had given her a prognosis of ‘probably about two years to live,’ despite the fact that she didn’t ‘feel sick at all’ and was undergoing treatment.
Emma had noticed a small lump in her breast the previous December, but upon examination, she was told it was ‘more likely just going to be a funny tissue.’
Leading up to Christmas, Emma found it challenging to schedule a mammogram. However, since she had made it a point to book herself in for one annually since she turned 40, she told FEMAIL she ‘didn’t really worry.’
The unsettling news came during an ultrasound appointment, revealing that the lump could be cancerous.
After undergoing a biopsy, she learned the following day that she had double-positive breast cancer.
Now, Emma is urging others to be diligent and consistent in checking their breasts.
Speaking to FEMAIL, she said: “Everyone’s getting diagnosed so much younger with this so if you feel like you’ve got something, you’ve got to push and you’ve got to get your results, and you’ve got to be on it and say, ‘I’m not waiting a week or two weeks’.”
“If I’d have left it or waited until the end of February for my next scan I could have been dead. I honestly didn’t think anything of it when I when I felt the lump so people just need to realize that cancer is more common now in younger people. Get the ultrasound, double check… triple check.”
Initially, Emma was informed her cancer was stage two, but further tests, including an MRI and PET scan, revealed potentially cancerous spots on her liver.
A surgeon explained that surgery was not an option, leading Emma to see an oncologist.
Currently, Emma explained that the medical team is uncertain about the ‘path’ forward.
“They said there’s no surgery, there’s no chemo and that I’ll be given a hormone injection every 28 days and two pills to take a day. Oh and they added that I’ve probably got about two years to live on them,” she said.
“I’m so fit and healthy so it’s weird being told I have cancer. I feel normal, I don’t feel sick at all – it’s just crazy to hear I have two years left.”
In pursuit of a potential treatment, Emma reached out to women in Australia with the same cancer type, who have experienced positive outcomes from a clinic in Cancun, Mexico.
She is currently raising funds to cover the trip, expressing: “I don’t know if this is 100 percent going to fix me but somewhere in my gut, my heart, I just know that it’s the right path.”
You can donate to Emma’s fundraiser here.