A FLINTSHIRE woman is fighting for change after being given a devastating diagnosis.

Lisa Jones is just one of thousands in the UK living with secondary breast cancer – a treatable but uncurable disease.

She is now joining a campaign to ‘fight for a voice’ as she believes more awareness needs to be made about the disease.

Lisa, along with a group of other inspirational women, are taking part in the campaign in a bid to raise awareness and much needed funds for the Make 2nds Count charity.

The Make 2nds Count charity was launched by Lisa Flemming after she too was given the devastating diagnosis but wanted to bring change.

Lisa Jones said: “I was contacted in September to see if I wanted to join the campaign. On October 1 we said we can't fight for our lives. We are incurable, we are fighting to be heard.

“Fighting for a voice for the 35,000 patients living with Secondary Breast Cancer in the UK.

“I am one of these women from across the UK; we are 20-50 years old, all with very different stories about secondary breast cancer and living our lives with the disease.

“But what is shared is constant treatment and medical appointments, living with cancer that has no cure and what this means for our family and friends, and often explaining what secondary breast cancer is. We are fighting to be heard.

“It shouldn't be a fight to be heard when 35,000 people live with Secondary Breast Cancer, and 1,000 lose their lives every month.”

Lisa was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 but had found out it had spread in July of this year.

She added: “I was missed for quite a while with my symptoms. I’d had primary breast cancer and then after that I wasn’t getting any better.

“I was so tired and in a lot of pain and I had very drastic weight loss. Every time I went back, they said I would be fine because I’m young.

“That’s another thing, there’s a stigma there that if you are young, nothing bad will happen. I was going through all of this through the pandemic.

“You couldn’t go to hospital, a lot of appointments were over the phone. I was told I had terminal cancer over the phone.

“There’s no cure for it. Most secondary breast cancers are treatable but they aren’t curable. I have several lines of treatment and once each one stops working, I will move onto the next.”

October marks breast cancer awareness month and the Make 2nds Count charity is aiming to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of secondary breast cancer.

More information can be found online at https://www.make2ndscount.co.uk/

October 13 marked metastatic breast cancer day and Lisa, along with 19 other women, took part in a photoshoot in a bid to help raise that awareness.

She added: “There’s a lot of fundraising for breast cancer, but not secondary breast cancer and that’s the type that can kill.

“We’ve done a photoshoot, we have merchandise that we are selling and I will be involved in any future events.

“My main message would be to never accept what you are told. If something doesn’t feel right then keep looking for more options and keep pushing.

“There’s just not enough understanding, even by the professionals.”