My wife's BIG fight with an aggressive form of Breast Cancer

My name is Grant, and I'm doing this fundraiser with a heavy heart in the hopes of getting Emmie as much support as she deserves through this agonising and upsetting time. She has a very long road ahead of her still, having only just started her Cancer treatment six weeks ago, on her chemotherapy journey.

I want to say a bit about our past year. To say it's been a bumpy road is an understatement. More like driving through a desert storm.

After having our baby girl in March 2024, which was a very stressful time after the losses we'd endured prior to our Maya. We we're over the moon. Our little family was complete.

Our families were so overjoyed, and we knew we would have a wonderful future being parents.

Then in November 2024, unfortunately Emmie lost her mum suddenly. Without any signs. And it completely destroyed her. She had to endure the knock from the police around midnight telling her her mum had gone into cardiac arrest. From then on, it was such a heartbreaking time for us all. Having to see Emmie go through losing her loving and caring mother, it broke my heart and still does now. Her mum was besotted with Maya already, but she was taken just nine months after Maya was born.

I don't think I know anyone who has kept her strength up, even after losing her best friend, her precious mum. She's kept so strong, for Maya. But of course it has impacted and affected her so much, she has her waves of grieving and missing her more than words can say. I hate seeing her go through this...

And little did we know, that beneath the surface of Emmie's skin, Cancer was growing.

In March 2025, Emmie visited her doctors surgery where she spoke about a couple of symptoms she had which were in her eyes down to hormones. But she was referred to the breast care clinic urgently where she underwent an ultrasound, where they found a 15mm suspicious lump. She had biopsies performed to have it tested. And of course we all thought it was nothing to worry about, telling her she will be okay.

We went back to the hospital, and she was given the devastating news that she has Invasive Ductual Carcinoma Grade III Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Originally she was due to have a lumpectomy to remove the Cancer first. But after an MRI of the breast, they found the mass to be 65mm. Therefore the treatment changed and chemotherapy was planned ASAP.

She was of course beside herself. Because not only was she about to face a big battle, she didn't have her mum here anymore to comfort her, give her the reassurance that she'd always given to Emmie. Her mother's love. She was still trying to grieve her loss, and now she's got Cancer, she's questioned why. Why me? Why take my mum and then give me the worst to face head on.

She doesn't deserve any of this. And it breaks me every day it really does.

Now fast forward to today. She's currently undergoing Chemotherapy, she's six weeks in having chemo every week. As she also has Crohns disease, they opted for weekly treatment so her immune system is able to cope. She also has a PICC line in her arm which threads through her main artery to her heart, for several months which enables the treatment to be administered safely.

She's had a multitude of appointments already... From weekly blood tests, seeing her consultant, oncologist, Macmillan key worker, GP. Having had two mammograms, two MRIs, two CT scans, further biopsies, and she has so many upcoming appointments already booked to see specialists & a plastic surgeon at Northwick Park.

She amazingly completed the 3k Race for Life also after her second round of chemo! She raised a whopping £1500 for Cancer Research and they were so supportive of her participation and how much she raised which will help in the progress of medicines and treatments!

She's so tired. Exhausted. Losing so much of her hair already. And she's still being a very hands on Mummy to Maya! She's still smiling every day. Carrying on every day. But I see how tired she is already and I so wish she'd rest more.

Unfortunately she was also told at her genetics results that she has inherited Breast and Ovarian Cancer in her bloodline. Therefore there's a 50% chance our Maya can have it later down the line which is just awful for us to hear. No-one should be informed that their baby may be at risk!

She also was told that she has the BRCA1 mutation. Which means, that she is now at even higher risk of her left breast cancer moving to her right breast AND ovaries. I mean what more does she have to go through?

This means that she now has to go through Risk Reducing Surgery after her chemotherapy ends in November. Which involves her having a double mastectomy (removal of both breasts) and having her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. And possible reconstruction. At 36 years old, she's having to go through this life altering surgery. With higher chances of being diagnosed with OTHER cancers too. So it's just so hard to come to terms with. There's no end in sight.

I just can't fathom how she's not only been given such devastating news and future, but she's still continuing to smile. She amazes me!

So she's currently undergoing weekly chemotherapy of Paclitaxel and Carboplatin, around four hour sessions. This is until mid August. And then she will change drugs to EC which is a worse chemo they call the red devil. Every three weeks, as it's meant to take the first week for her to fully rest and recover.

And then she'll endure the risk reducing surgery around four weeks after chemo ends. It's just not fair.

The why?

I've done this fundraiser in the hopes to help Emmie and our little family, as we are going through the toughest time and we have no idea what our future holds. We were meant to get married in May 2025, where I proposed, we were due to finalise everything in January, but after her mum passed away in November, there was no way that we could go ahead without Emmie's mum being there. No way. She was so looking forward to seeing her daughter walk down the isle she'd already brought bits for her holiday/daughters big day. We were all so excited. It's so hard to talk about.

So we cancelled our big day, and decided we'd still go away as a much needed getaway come May as we had already paid for it! But that wasn't to happen.

Literally a week before Emmie started her chemotherapy, we was due to go on holiday. But her consultant outright said no. So we have not only lost our wedding, but also the much needed and deserved rest Emmie needed. You just can't write it...

I'm taking as much time off as I can to help Emmie and with looking after our baby, because she has to rest! She's been told over and over to rest as much as she can, but it's so difficult because I still have to work. But come her major surgery at the end of the year, I'll need to take time off to look after her. Perhaps even prior. As there is no way she'll be able to do anything for herself let alone Maya. And unfortunately we haven't got many who can fully look after Maya for us. But we do have our few support nets and loved ones who are there. But we need as much help as we can get. And Emmie can't keep looking after Maya every single day.

So I will be taking time off unpaid. I have to. There's no ifs or buts about it. And I am looking after our household as Emmie became a mother, and we was waiting for Maya to be going into nursery for her to look into going back to work again. No pressure. At least when Maya is around three. We were comfortable with that. But I forecast this to go beyond this timeframe anyway, because of the physical and mental impact this entire journey will take on Emmie. But this will have a significant impact on our ability to basically afford life!

I also want Emmie to be spoilt, to have what she needs. From wigs to comforts to whatever ice-cream she wants she can have! And we may have to look into personal care when she's recovering and after as she'll be unable to move her arms, have drains in place, so will need to be comfortable and we look into any possible equipment or essentials that may be beneficial. Because I do not want her doing anything that she shouldn't be doing! When I know she'll try.

We do not come from money, we do our best to stay afloat and as long as we have each other, that is what matters. Especially now.

But I really want to ensure that she has anything she needs. There may be treatments outside of the NHS that we must look into, and anything nowadays can be costly. And we will look into Maya going to a nursery earlier than planned. So I can fully focus on Emmie for a couple of days a week or so.

And that after all of this unbelievable news and upcoming turmoil, she can possibly hopefully go on a VERY well needed and VERY well deserved holiday. We hope. If everything goes as smoothly as possible! She will need it so much. If she's allowed. As we had to cancel ours and lost all our money (a lot to us, alongside everything else we've lost).

We need some luck we really do.

Emmie can't really do much, or have anything done to make herself feel better. Which is affecting her already especially as her hair is coming out in clumps now.

I'm not asking for a million pounds, unless you're offering. Just anything big or small that we can help raise to help my amazing woman and the mother of my child.

She always helps others. Always puts herself out to ensure everyone she loves is okay and their feelings and worries are always listened to. Even through this! So I want to credit her for that. She's a warrior. A fighter. And I know that she wants to fight as hard as she can to be here for Maya. She keeps saying Maya lost her Nanny, I won't let her lose her Mummy. That kills me. But I know she will fight. She's so strong.

And I think it's the possibility of other Cancers forming later down the line. That she is most worried for, because she's fighting right now, and has such a long road still to go. And we have the worry of other Cancers developing because of the BRCA1.

So Emmie really really deserves anything she needs. And hopefully in the near future when this Cancer goes into remission, we can actually do things as a family. For this year we just cannot. And Emmie feels so guilty for Maya because she's missing out on so many opportunities to do things as mother and daughter.

So please, in any way shape or form, please donate what you can and want to. And pray for Emmie to come through this, once all of it is done. Hopefully by early 2026. We want to hear she's Cancer free.

Emmie also has a YouTube channel now where she is sharing her Cancer journey to be able to express herself which she should. And to raise awareness. Also sharing funny videos of our Maya. Look up @mamaandmoomins

Thank you so much for reading.

Grant & Maya x