A mum diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29 says she needs to make every Christmas special for her young children because “you never know if this is your last”.
Amy Isidoro, from Cwmbran, began treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer when her son, Ben, was six months old and her daughter, Phoebe, was five.
The primary school teacher had been fit and healthy with no family history of breast cancer when she was diagnosed. She finished a round of chemotherapy just before Christmas but had to return to hospital with an infection.
“I just remember thinking I can’t miss my son’s first Christmas,” Amy said. “The nurse gave me an injection, and I was crying and she said I don’t like needles either. I said it’s not that. I need to be home. Please. Can you get me home tomorrow for Christmas Eve?
“It wasn’t the first Christmas you would want for your child. I felt awful and the whole of December had just been cancer.”
Despite still feeling very unwell, Amy managed to make it home for December 23rd but the experience has made her determined to make the very best of every moment with her family. Amy and her family have been inspired to share the realities of living with cancer at Christmas as the stars of Cancer Research Wales’ first ever television advertisement. The charity hopes it will encourage people to give more families the ‘Gift of Time’ this Christmas by donating to Cancer Research Wales.
“I’m really big on the need to make memories because you just don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “You just don’t know if this is your last Christmas or your last birthday. I just want them to have these amazing Christmas memories in case we don’t get another one as a family.”
Amy, now 35, went to the doctor with concerns about her symptoms in July 2020. She was reassured that she could be experiencing hormone changes six months after giving birth. But when the results of a biopsy came back she and husband Andrew learned she had triple negative breast cancer.
“I remember thinking, Phoebe’s going to see me with no hair and she’s going to know I’m not very well,” she said. “That was my worry. It’s going to be strange and she’s going to be scared. I didn’t want her to see me being unwell.”
Amy underwent six months of chemotherapy starting in August, then a successful surgery followed in February. She returned to work in September 2021 while still completing her final few weeks of chemotherapy. She has been cancer-free since but found the process of returning to normality difficult.
“During the actual treatment I tried very hard not to think about what if this doesn’t work?” she said. “That was never a thought I could let myself have because I thought if I go down that road, it’s going to be hard to reign in. After it was all finished, then I had the realisation this could have gone wrong and I might not have been here. Then it was difficult and I struggled.”
Amy says the experience has left her with a determination to make every memory special with her husband and two children.
“I’m just huge on making big memories and trying to take the focus away from the presents,” Amy said. “I put a lot of pressure on the need to do so much stuff for the children. That thought is always there.”
Adam Fletcher, Chief Executive of Cancer Research Wales, said: “I’m very grateful to Amy for letting us share her personal experience of cancer with the people of Wales as part of our new ‘Gift of Time’ campaign. By doing this, Amy is highlighting the importance of research into cancer, its diagnosis and treatment in a very powerful and moving way that will resonate with households across the country.
“By the end of the decade, 230,000 people in Wales will be living with cancer so the need for the work of Cancer Research Wales is greater than ever and thanks to Amy, we will be able to reach more people than ever with our important message.
“Amy is an inspirational and incredible person and as a supporter of Cancer Research Wales, she has already raised over £5,500 for us by running the London Marathon and organising a comedy night in her local community hall. I can’t thank her enough.”
Donate to Cancer Research Wales to give the Gift of Time to a family like Amy’s here.
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