Have you ever been given a thousand piece jigsaw and wondered how long it would take you to complete. Metaphorically, I completed my thousand piece jigsaw on the morning of September 3rd 2026. In other words, I opened my patient appointment spreadsheet and realised I was about to personally complete my 1000th referral. It took me exactly 4 years and four months to complete. That's how long I have been supporting patients navigate the complex world of clinical trials through the Make 2nds Count clinical trials service.
Like a jigsaw, those one thousand referrals have all had completely different edges, sizes, shapes and colours. No two referrals were ever the same. Why you might ask? Because each individual referral was a new or returning patient where the situation and treatment plan was changing and developing into something unique for them. However, some of the pieces shared similar features or commonalities. For example sub types of breast cancer, known mutations, a family history of breast cancer, spread of metastatic disease, and lines of current and past treatment.
As I reflect on each and every single referral I realised that some of my jigsaw pieces have now been lost along the way. To those patients I spoke to once, I hope that means your treatment is successfully working and the cancer remains stable or undetectable. Do remember you can come back and use the service again when your treatment plan needs to change into a different piece of the puzzle. Thank you to those of you who used the service on multiple occasions. Not necessarily because your disease progressed, but for your dedication and curiosity to see what other clinical trials may now be a potential option for you. Lastly, I wish to acknowledge and honour the patients who are no longer with us. Without you, the now completed jigsaw would look very different and you represent those magical pieces that bring the full picture together.
So, what does my completed one thousand piece jigsaw represent? A wonderful vision of hope and encouragement for those of you living with secondary (metastatic) breast cancer to move forward with dignity, while having the knowledge to empower conversations about clinical trials with your oncology teams. Now I look forward to opening the next 1000 piece jigsaw box and getting to know and support every single one of you. The pieces will be different this time round but I know the final picture will be just as unique and special as the first one.
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