Blog

I am currently 56 years old. I was a Major Crime Forensic Advisor but retired three years ago after a stroke and a 2nd primary cancer diagnosis.

Patient Trials Advocate, Vivienne Wilson, has been highly commended for her inspiring work at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards for 2023. During the awards ceremony held at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh on 21 June, Vivienne was a finalist in the Inspiring Excellence - Nursing Innovation and Research Award category for her leadership in the delivery of the Patient Trials Advocate (PTA) service, developed by Make 2nds Count.

Living with secondary (metastatic) cancer is challenging. You will deal with a variety of emotions, such as fear, sadness, anxiety, anger, or hopelessness.

On behalf of Make 2nds Count, the Board of Trustees confirms that on 16th June, its founder Lisa Fleming chose to withdraw the employment tribunal claim she had raised against the charity. See here for further details of the legal action.

Living with secondary (metastatic) cancer is challenging. You will deal with a variety of emotions, such as sadness, anxiety, anger, or hopelessness.

A 5 year anniversary interview with Dr Olga Oikonomidou, the first recipient of research funding from Make 2nds Count. Dr Olga Oikonomidou is a Consultant Medical Oncologist and Principal Investigator of the Breast Cancer Translational Research Group at the University of Edinburgh.

On 14th May 2023, Jake ran the Bristol half marathon in memory of his soon-to-be mother-in-law, Linda. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Dr Sarah Thomas joined the Make 2nds Count team in March 2023 to become the charity’s first ever Research Manager and lead our growing research programme. Sarah answers questions from the community and discusses the challenges in secondary breast cancer research and her big ideas for the future.

SBC & Me Date of Diagnosis 17/02/2023 Current Treatment Line I have occult SBC, no evidence in breast which delayed dx. Liver/bone mets.

Every month Make 2nds Count updates its registry of all actively recruiting secondary breast cancer clinical trials in the UK. This post highlights some of the new clinical trials added to our registry that are actively recruiting participants within the UK for Spring 2023.

Over the last five years, we have been so grateful and overwhelmed by the support from our whole community - there are so many we couldn't possibly name everyone! On what is our 5th birthday we want to take a moment to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved in our journey along the way, including those sadly no longer with us.

SBC & Me Date of Diagnosis 16/05/2021 Current Treatment Line I’m on Leterazole, Palbociclib, Xolidex, Denosimab, pregabolin, omeprazole, ibuprofen, paracetamol and morphine with regular therapy through the Sara Lee trust. My diagnosis?

Emma Higginson was diagnosed with Secondary (Metastatic) Breast Cancer in December 2022. She works in IT for BSI and since her diagnosis her colleagues at BSI have really got behind Make 2nds Count to help raise funds.

We are sharing a very special blog today from one of our amazing fundraisers - Evan Moffitt, son of one of our Trustees, Heather.

He has chosen to share his personal story with us, and we are so proud and grateful to him for the opportunity to hear from him directly.

SBC & Me Date of Diagnosis 13/01/2023 Current Treatment Line I am just about to start a chemo drug called Abraxane and immunotherapy. I'll go in for treatments on a four week cycle, with three on and one off.