Young mother’s coronavirus test leads to devastating cancer news
A young mother who feared she had COVID-19 has learned that her cancer had returned and spread through her body.
Beth Pitt-Roche, 26, from the English county of Suffolk, took two coronavirus tests earlier this year after struggling with a cough and cold.
The tests returned negative, but an X-ray and CT scan showed that Beth’s breast cancer came back and is now in her lungs, spine, hips and liver.
The mother-of-two was first diagnosed with invasive HER2 breast cancer in 2017. After going through chemotherapy and recovering from her first diagnosis, she underwent a double mastectomy towards the end of last year in an attempt to eliminate the risk of the cancer returning.
She started developing respiratory symptoms two weeks after the mastectomy, and was told in April that the cancer was back.
“[The doctors] told me without treatment I had up to eight months left to live – it was indescribable,” Beth told 7News.
“I couldn’t catch my breath, but I didn’t cry.
“All we have as a family is the day ahead now, and that’s how we live our lives. I don’t want to dwell on what I can’t change.”
Beth is now having targeted therapy, which doctors expect could help prolong her life expectancy by at least five years.
She is also raising funds for a family therapy dog, an idea which she said was inspired by Netflix series After Life.
“During lockdown, we binge-watched After Life on Netflix, in which a man, played by Ricky Gervais, loses his wife to cancer,” she said.
“The only thing that keeps him going is her dog, Brandy. It was amazing seeing how much the dog helped him cope.”
She decided to carry out the idea following a discussion with her husband Nick. In late June, her friend Karis Nurse launched a GoFundMe page with a £3,500 goal to purchase the dog.
“Knowing that the family will have the unconditional love of a devoted dog when I’m not here is a reassuring thought,” Beth said.