A grandmother who had a mammogram on her 50th birthday instead of celebrating was shocked to be told she likely had cancer on her big day – then connected with the love of her life just 24 hours later. Sam Steele from Hall Green, Birmingham was told she had breast cancer which was confirmed by a biopsy shortly after.
The former retail worker now feels “lucky” to be nearing the end of her treatment with a good prognosis and a fresh outlook on ageing – which has seen her move house, begin a new relationship and get engaged all within a year. Now 51, Sam ended up “blurting out” her diagnosis to a fellow dog walker, IT worker Paul Ferguson, 52, the day after her birthday.
The revelation led to a connection which turned to love when Paul turned up to Sam’s home to comfort her on the morning of her cancer surgery. Sam, who has four adult children and four grandchildren, is now engaged to Paul. She said: “Turning 50 you do think about where you are in life, what you want, what you’ve achieved.
"But being diagnosed with cancer on my birthday completely changed my personality. It made me rethink everything.
"II started to focus on what I really wanted.” Sam was single and living with her mother weeks before turning 50 in July 2021 when she first suspected something was wrong.
“I was in the shower and just thought I’d check my breasts, as you do,” she said. “On my left breast, behind the nipple, there was a hard mass just over three centimetres. I don’t have a family history of female cancers or anything. But as soon as I felt it, I just knew what it was.”
Worried and keen to be seen, Sam called her GP but says she was unable to get a timely appointment. She explained: “The appointments they could offer were weeks away. I kept calling back and the receptionist told me to use the Livi app.” Livi is an app where patients can see GPs and other health professionals via video consultation.
The medical professionals on the app can then provide prescriptions, fit notes and referrals to NHS services. For the majority of the country this is a paid service, however, the app currently partners with the NHS to provide free services at the point of use, for patients at select GP practices in the UK.
As Sam’s GP was one of these practices, she was able to conduct a free video call through the app the very next day. Sam says she was then told to call her local surgery again. She recalled: “I was told to ring my doctor and mention I’d spoken to Livi and needed an urgent appointment. I was given one that same day.
“After that initial appointment, it all moved so fast. A referral was made for the mammogram and that happened within two weeks on my 50th birthday on July 26 last year.”
Sam, who has three adult sons and one adult daughter, three granddaughters and a grandson, had planned to do something quiet with family to celebrate the occasion. However, her mammogram took priority.
She cleared her day, saying: “You can celebrate anytime. This was so much more important.”
Heading to the procedure at Birmingham’s Good Hope Hospital alone due to Covid restrictions, Sam said: “I remember it clearly. They performed the mammogram, ultrasound and took a sample for a biopsy. Then the ultrasound technician told me that from their experience I should prepare for it to be breast cancer. As cheesy as it sounds, I just said ‘bring it on.’
"I’ve been through so much in my life, hard times and bad relationships. I just thought of this as another thing to get through. I was probably in a bit of disbelief.” Alone in her car following the appointment, Sam admits she broke down before calling her children and breaking the frightening news.
The very next day, Sam was walking her dogs, eight-year-old Husky Labrador Dexter and four-year-old Staffie Whippet cross Kipper, when she saw Paul. She said: “Paul and I had seen each other out walking the dogs for about 18 months. I’d thought he looked a bit of alright. We’d gone through lockdown spotting each other.
"We’d slowly got to the waving stage then the 'hello' stage. I saw him out walking the day after my mammogram and just blurted out the news, that’s what really got us talking.”
Within two weeks, Sam’s breast cancer diagnosis was confirmed following a biopsy of the tissue taken on her birthday. On the morning of an operation to remove the cancer that September, Paul unexpectedly turned up at Sam’s house at 6am to give her a hug and some reassurance.
“That’s the day we became a couple. I realised he was a keeper,” she said. Following the operation, Sam was told the cancer had spread to a small number of her lymph nodes, meaning she would need further treatment.
She moved in with Paul and underwent six months of gruelling chemotherapy which saw her lose her long brown hair, suffer from exhaustion and stomach issues. Sam is now mid-way through four weeks of daily radiotherapy.
She will then need to be on hormone tablets for 10 years to hopefully stop the cancer returning. Doctors are hopeful and her prognosis looks good. With Paul having proposed this summer and plans to marry next year, Sam too is positive about the future. She said: “I’ve learnt a lot about myself, bizarrely, a lot of good has come out of this.”
She added: “It has taught me that you owe it to yourself to be happy. Hearing you have cancer is so very frightening. But there is a life with cancer and, if you’re lucky, after cancer too. I’m so glad mine was caught early. I now know that instead of dreading turning 50, 60, 70, we should be grateful. It’s not promised to any of us.”
