A woman was six months pregnant when she discovered a lump in her breast which quickly grew to the size of a golf ball.
After initially being prescribed antibiotics by her GP and then paying a trip to A&E, Louise Swain-Hughes, 34, was referred to her local breast clinic for a check-up.
She claimed that she was told by a radiologist that the lump was "nothing to worry about" and was just hormones related to her pregnancy, Wales Online reports.
Louise, from Denbigh, said: "I was obviously reassured by that point, but then I noticed some changes to my nipple. I was concerned about my ability to breast feed when the baby arrived, so I rang the breast clinic again.
"They initially offered me an appointment two months later as they'd already given me a thorough lookover, but about a month went by and I grew worried and asked for an appointment sooner."
She added: "So I went back in and they once again did an ultrasound and a biopsy. A week later I was back in the clinic and that's when I got my cancer diagnosis. It was literally the most surreal experience.
"My whole body just went cold. You never expect to hear the words 'you have cancer', let alone when you're six months pregnant. It was just utter, utter shock."
Doctors told Louise and then-fiancé Matt that a multi-disciplinary team had looked though her earlier scans and had not found anything untoward, meaning that Louise's cancer had developed incredibly quickly.
She was also told some cancers could be more difficult to find when someone was pregnant.
Louise was immediately assigned a clinical oncologist, based at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, and a plan was put in place for her to be put straight on chemotherapy for six months followed by a mastectomy.
She added: "They do the [chemotherapy] drugs in two phases, but they swapped them around because they knew it would not damage the baby that way. Obviously, that was my main concern. I just had to completely hand myself over to the experts and keep as calm as possible. I was so worried about being upset that I had to trust them."
Aside from extreme tiredness and losing all her hair, Louise said she was "incredibly lucky" to not have too many side-effects during her chemotherapy while being heavily pregnant.
"I didn't have any of the sickness - I think I almost sailed through it," she added. "I rested a lot, and my partner and I have an extremely close family who looked after us and did everything they could."
Following a gruelling four-day long induction at 36 weeks, Louise gave birth to baby Iwan on October 28, 2021.
"We were so worried that I'd need a c-section as the operation would have affected my chemotherapy treatment, so it was important that I gave birth naturally," she added. "Iwan is a dream baby, he literally doesn't wake up in the night."
After spending several weeks enjoying being a new mum while continuing with her chemotherapy, Louise underwent a CT scan in late January this year which revealed that the cancer had spread to multiple bones in her body.
Her mastectomy then followed soon after. Another CT scan at the end of March then showed progression of the cancer to her liver.
"They said it wasn't good news that the cancer had spread so quickly so soon after chemotherapy. Hearing that it had gone to my liver was one of the darkest moments I've had, because you think 'where's the hope? Where do you go now?'
"But the hospital has been extremely supportive and I've been having complimentary therapy through a local hospice. I'm now in a much stronger head space. I'm now focusing on positivity and hope - and there are new drugs being trialled."
Louise has triple negative breast cancer, the name given to breast cancers that lack the three receptors which are normally used to classify breast cancers: oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).
Around 15% of all breast cancers - more than 8,000 cases a year in the UK - are triple negative and many affect women under 40.
The 34-year-old has been informed by doctors that a type of targeted chemotherapy drug called Trodelvy could extend her life and give her more quality time with Iwan, now seven months old, and her husband Matt, who she married only weeks ago.
However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has provisionally rejected the medication for routine use on the NHS in Wales and England on cost grounds.
"Very few new drugs have come through for this type of breast cancer. It could give me, and others, more time with their families and loved ones. I need to be there for my son for as long as possible. I need to get this drug for him, for my family, for my friends and for me. I need it more than anything in the world," she said.
Despite Scotland recommending Trodelvy for use on the NHS in Scotland, the same cannot be said for other parts of the UK following the ruling by NICE in April. Breast Cancer Now has launched a #TimeForTrodelvy campaign which aims to successfully secure an increased supply of the drug through a pre-reimbursement access scheme run by pharmaceutical company, Gilead.
The charity is calling for the public to sign an open letter and respond to the NICE consultation directly.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now said: "Evidence shows Trodelvy can increase time before a patient's disease progresses and, crucially, how long they live compared to being treated with chemotherapy.
These women, who already face devastatingly poorer prognoses and limited treatment options, deserve the chance to benefit from this new treatment option.
"We campaigned tirelessly to see eligible patients access Trodelvy and earlier this year, secured a commitment from drug company, Gilead, to expand its pre-reimbursement access scheme to ensure more women could access the drug while we waited on NICE's decision around its routine use on the NHS.
"But now, with a matter of weeks until NICE makes its final decision, action is needed more urgently than ever. Together, Gilead, NICE and the NHS must find a solution that sees this potentially life-extending drug made routinely available on the NHS, including Gilead ensuring the drug is affordable for the NHS.
"In the meantime, Gilead must guarantee that its pre-reimbursement scheme remains open to all new eligible patients as we make every effort to ensure that NICE reverses its decision."
Louise, who has also received care at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, said she "has to remain hopeful" that she can access Trodelvy and added: "There are so many people in the same position as me and that makes me incredibly sad. We need this drug so much and I'm lost for words that this is coming down to cost."
Due to her poor prognosis, Louise and Matt decided to get married early on May 7 in front of her closest family and friends - a day she described as "incredible".
"We were meant to get married in 2020 but couldn't due to Covid, then after my treatment we planned to get married this September, but when the cancer was found in my liver the oncologist said I should probably get married sooner rather than later so we literally turned the wedding around in three weeks. I think there were just 16 of us there in total, but it was so intimate. We christened Iwan on the same day as well."
The Welsh Government said that, should NICE approve Trodelvy, it would be made available for routine use in Wales.
To sign Breast Cancer Now's 'It's Time for Trodelvy' open letter to Gilead, NHS and NICE go to breastcancernow.org/get-involved/campaign-us/time-trodelvy .
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