Amy cherishes every moment with her children
A mother who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29, has expressed her determination to make every Christmas special for her young children, stating “you never know if this is your last”.
Amy Isidoro from Cwmbran, began her battle against an aggressive form of breast cancer when her son, Ben, was just six months old and her daughter, Phoebe, was five. The primary school teacher, who had always been fit and healthy with no family history of breast cancer, received her diagnosis unexpectedly.
She sought medical advice regarding her symptoms in July 2020, and was initially reassured that she might be experiencing hormonal changes six months postpartum.
However, when the biopsy results came back, she and her husband Andrew were hit with the devastating news that she had triple negative breast cancer. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter here
She revealed: “I remember thinking, Phoebe’s going to see me with no hair and she’s going to know I’m not very well.
“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 2020. She completed a round of chemotherapy just before Christmas but was forced to return to hospital due to an infection.
She confessed: “I just remember thinking I can’t miss my son’s first Christmas. 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 incredibly unwell, Amy managed to return home on December 23rd to spend the festive season with her family.
This experience only strengthened her aim to cherish every moment with her family. Inspired by their journey, Amy and her family have decided to share the realities of living with cancer during the festive season as the faces of Cancer Research Wales’ inaugural television advert.
The charity hopes this will inspire people to give more families the ‘Gift of Time’ this Christmas by donating to Cancer Research Wales.
Amy, who is now 35, said: “I’m really big on the need to make memories because you just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“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.”
Followed a successful surgery in February 2021, and plenty of chemotherapy Amy returned to work in September 2021 and has been cancer-free since.
The mother of two admitted: “During the actual treatment I tried very hard not to think about what if this doesn’t work?
“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 admits the ordeal instilled in her a fierce commitment to creating lasting moments with her husband and their two youngsters, which they hope to share through Cancer Research Wales’ new campaign.
Adam Fletcher, Chief Executive of Cancer Research Wales, expressed his gratitude: “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.”
He continued: “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.”
