Kimberley Anderson is speaking out after doctors found stage 4 cancer spreading through her body, two years after she had been declared cancer-free.
Anderson, 39, a nail technician from Dundee, Scotland, first beat breast cancer in early 2021 following a 2019 diagnosis that led to chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a mastectomy with reconstruction. She told the Daily Record she had “put cancer to the back of her mind” and was living healthily, even going to the gym, when new symptoms crept in at the start of 2023.
The fatigue hit first. Anderson found herself needing naps during the day, then came muscle aches in her back, shoulders and ribs, alongside appetite loss and weight loss. She bought a new mattress in the January 2023 sales, even visiting a shop where “you lie on the bed and it tells you what kind of mattress you need,” she said. The pain persisted.
“I thought I was just getting older, or my mattress was hurting my back,” Anderson said. “I was thinking ‘it must be me, I’m getting older’, I wasn’t thinking about cancer at all. I just didn’t really think the cancer would come back because I had been living quite healthily.”
By August 2023, neck pain so severe it made breathing and swallowing difficult sent her to the emergency room. A CT scan revealed a 5cm tumor in her neck. The September diagnosis was stage four metastatic breast cancer, with spread to her chest wall, ovary, rib and adrenal gland.
“I was struggling to breathe and swallow at this point so I went to hospital,” Anderson recounted. “They did a CT scan and I had a 5cm tumor in my neck, a mass on my chest wall, a mass on my ovaries, a mass on my adrenal gland and my ribs.”
She described her reaction: “It was an absolute shock because I really had put it behind me. I thought that chapter of my life was closed and I didn’t want to think about it again. I started crying and shouting for my partner to come through because I didn’t really know what to do or say.”
Anderson underwent five rounds of radiotherapy that October, followed by 12 rounds of chemotherapy. But in July 2024, the cancer reached her brain. Surgery to remove the brain tumor came two months later, in September 2024.
Now on daily oral chemotherapy tablets, Anderson reports her cancer is “stable” with no growth for over a year. She remains realistic about her options. “When this one does stop working, I’ll move on to a different one and I think that will be my last treatment – I think that’s my last option,” she said. “I’m really hoping these tablets work for as long as they can.”
She addressed the stark statistics directly. “The statistics before the cancer moved to my brain was that my prognosis was anything between 10 and 20 years, but once it goes to your brain the statistics say that it drops to between three and five years,” she continued. “I don’t believe in these statistics, I don’t take any notice of that. Just because it’s three years on the statistics, it doesn’t mean that it’s three years for me. I’m not just a statistic, I’m stronger than a statistic.”
Anderson’s original 2019 diagnosis came after she found a lump in her left breast while showering. She underwent the full treatment regimen and received her all-clear in early 2021, enough time to believe the worst had passed before the 2023 recurrence.
Her message now centers on self-advocacy, particularly for younger women. “I advocate that women should be checking their breasts no matter what age they are – even if you’re in your 20s,” Anderson said. “We know our bodies better than anyone, including the GP, so don’t let a GP fob you off. Advocate for yourself, push past the primary care barrier, do what you need to get seen by proper specialists.”
Anderson continues her daily chemotherapy tablet regimen as she monitors her stable condition.