Breast cancer patient on having her op during pandemic

to daughter Ellen, 19, was told she needed an operation to remove her right breast just days before the country went into lockdown.

In February, she had contacted the hospital’s breast clinic after sensing a change in the breast where she had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Tests revealed the cancer was progressing and she was advised to undergo a mastectomy.

Alison said: “I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and told it had spread to my liver – so was incurable but treatable.

“I started chemotherapy and, by September 2017, was told the treatment had been so successful there were no longer any visible signs of disease on my scans. it checked out.” Tests revealed a significant amount of disease had returned to Alison’s breast.

She said: “Thankfully, there was no evidence of disease elsewhere and I was advised I should have a mastectomy.

“At the time, coronavirus had started to spread in the UK and lockdown was announced the following week.

“I was given a date for my operation but everything coronavirus-related seemed to be escalating so quickly that I really couldn’t allow myself to believe it would go ahead.

“I was worried the hospital would be so swamped that they wouldn’t be able to do my operation or even that my surgeon would get ill.”

Alison attended hospital for her operation on April 15.

She was deeply moved by the care and support she received from all the hospital staff – from her surgical team to her nurses and even hospital cleaners.

She said: “The hospital was divided into two zones – a red zone where patients with Covid were being treated and a green zone for non- Covid patients.

“All the hospital staff were so calm and reassuring – there was no sense of panic or worry – and, if anything, it felt like I was probably getting extra care. There were little things that were differentferent – like the staff wearing masks and the quietness of the hospital.

“When it was time for my operation, instead of being wheeled to surgery in a bed, I had to walk down with my gown on and walk right into the theatre itself. feel sos grateful that my operationoper was able to go ahead.ah

“AtA t he moment , scientscie ists across the worldwor are racing to find a drdrug to stop Covid-19 a ndn , wh i le t h a t ’s important,imp it frustrates me that there’s not the samesam sense of urgency by governments to find cures or new treatments for otheother diseases that also claiml theh livesl off thousandsh of people.

“It’s my hope that this search to find an urgent drug for coronavirus will make governments look more closely at how the pace of finding treatments for other diseases can be improved.”

Alison supports the charity Breast Cancer Now, which funds world-class research and provides life- changing care to anyone affected by breast cancer.