Amy Dowden reveals how she came close to death during chemo in breast cancer battle
5 October 2023, 06:31
Strictly dancer Amy Dowden has shared how she suffered ‘life-threatening’ side-effects from chemotherapy sessions she is undergoing in her battle with breast cancer.
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Amy, 33, revealed she had emergency stays in hospital after her first and second cycles of chemo - that led to her developing sepsis and then blood clots.
“After both my first cycles I developed the life-threatening side-effects that can come with chemo, so I had it all in the first month,” she told The Mirror.
She explained how she collapsed not long after her first session, saying: “I had a temperature and didn’t realise the severity of having a temperature. I stood up, collapsed, Mum rang the emergency number and they said ‘phone an ambulance immediately’.
Hospital workers told her she had an infection and then her blood pressure dropped so low she was at risk of organ failure.
After her treatment, she said paramedics told her: “If I had gone to bed that night I might not have woken up the next morning.”
She then developed blood clots after her second round of chemo.
“My arm swelled up and went purple and I was really short of breath. So I was rushed back in. It was frightening, too. I’m on blood thinners now for six months.”
“I dream every night of being back on the dance floor,” she says. “But I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment.”
Last month she posted an emotional video of the moment she shaved her head during her breast cancer battle.
Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer in May and began chemotherapy after doctors discovered another type of cancer in her body, meaning she was unable to be paired with a celebrity for the new series.
After posting the video, the star added how she can now "see the finish line" in her journey and is feeling positive.
