Amy Dowden was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 and underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and fertility treatment for her cancer. She was told there was 'no evidence of disease' in February 2024, but her journey has been marked by significant challenges. According to Manchester Evening News, Dowden described chemotherapy as the hardest part of her life, citing complications including sepsis, blood clots, and a broken foot.
She also noted that she had fertility treatment and was lucky enough to get five embryos, though the current status of those embryos and her fertility plans remains unclear. She had to have her other breast removed 12 weeks ago. Amy Dowden's cancer diagnosis has impacted her and her husband's plans to start a family, adding emotional strain.
I’d lost everything as a dancer, my flexibility, my speed – everything I worked 20 years for.
According to Manchester Evening News, she described being told to watch her fertility plans due to her hormone-fed cancer, which required putting her into menopause, a moment she said hurt more than the diagnosis itself. She was emotional while revisiting a recent conversation about her cancer journey and its uncertainty on family plans, and she said she was 'holding back tears' during the conversation. The long-term medical implications or prognosis for Dowden following her 'no evidence of disease' status and recent surgeries are uncertain, and how her diagnosis and treatment have specifically affected her career on Strictly Come Dancing beyond her initial return is not detailed.
According to Manchester Evening News, Dowden described losing everything as a dancer, including flexibility and speed, and emphasized a mindset of 'don't get bitter, get better' to cope with the rocky road.
I've had my fair few tough moments growing up with my Crohn's disease, but obviously recently my breast cancer diagnosis, which came as an absolute shock. I never thought at 32 years old I would be diagnosed with the devastating blow of a cancer diagnosis, but especially breast cancer.
From that I was literally told the news to watch your fertility plans. I just got married and obviously I'd love the honor of becoming a mum and they said that because I have a hormone fed cancer they needed to be able to put me straight into menopause which was an absolute like, I had my husband with me, I didn't know what he was thinking at the time and that really hurt. I think that hurt at the time more than the cancer diagnosis really.
so I literally was told this and I had a masectomy six weeks later. Then I had fertility treatment and was lucky enough to get five embryos. To then start chemotherapy, which was the hardest part of my life and came with so many complications, sepsis to blood clots to breaking my foot, to then thinking, you know, that was it. I'd been through it all. But then it's that really long tough journey of recovery.
More recently with my medical team, um we had to make the decision 12 weeks ago to have my other breast off. So it's been quite a rocky road to say the least. But I'm I am the type of person, and I think my dancing instilled this in me. Don't get bitter, get better. I used Tom's Hank saying 'this too shall pass' to help me get through it.