Off The Record

I Feel Fit And Healthy, But I Have 2 Years Left To Live

Published on February 13, 2025

Emma Johnson was in love, in good health, and the devoted stepmother to two handsome boys.

Before her life was abruptly upended, the 43-year-old Newcastle resident appeared to have the world at her feet.

Emma was given a stage-four breast cancer diagnosis in January, even though she had been doing “everything right” with her health and had diligently scheduled a mammography annually since turning 40.

Because the cancer had spread to her liver and lymph nodes, doctors warned that she could only have two years to live.

The sole sign was a little, firm bump on her breast in December, which she promptly attributed to a gym injury.

How could there be more? She was feeling better than before. No discomfort, no exhaustion, nothing unusual.

“I got the lump examined at the doctor and they told me it was more likely just going to be a funny tissue,” Emma, a hairdresser and the owner of Pony Hair Studio, told FEMAIL.

“I couldn’t get in for an ultrasound and a mammogram for four weeks because everywhere was busy and it was Christmas, so I didn’t really worry about it.”

“The first week of January was the first time I could get an appointment. As soon as I’d done the ultrasound, a doctor came in and said that it was very hard and I should prepare for it being cancerous.”

Emma, still in shock, left for a biopsy at 8 a.m. the following day.

She received the devastating news the same day the results were received. Her breast cancer was aggressive and double-positive.

“At the start they told me it was stage two but that it was pretty much curable,” Emma said.

“At that point it was horrendous but I was assuming I’d have eight weeks of recovery after surgery and then be cancer-free.”

Emma underwent a breast MRI and PET scan a week later. She went back to see her stony-faced surgeon seven days later, and he gave her more awful news. Her liver had small, probably malignant lesions.

“I went in last Tuesday and the surgeon told me that if it was in the liver he wouldn’t be able to operate anymore… and that he was going to move me on to an oncologist,” Emma said.

“They told me they’re not sure “what path” we can take. They said there’s no surgery, there’s no chemo and that I’ll be given a hormone injection every 28 days and two pills to take a day.”

“Oh and they added that I’ve probably got about two years to live on them.”

“I’m so fit and healthy so it’s weird being told I have cancer. I feel normal, I don’t feel sick at all – it’s just crazy to hear I have two years left.”

After that, it appeared that an end-of-life plan was the only choice.

In an attempt to discover a different path, Emma talked to some Australian ladies who had the same cancer, and they told her about the excellent outcomes from a clinic in Cancun, Mexico.

Although it’s quite costly, the outcomes have been encouraging. Emma is using MyCause to raise money for what she hopes will be a journey that saves lives.

At the very least, she thinks it will allow her to spend more valuable time with her devoted partner Matt and his two youngsters.

“I don’t know if this is 100 per cent going to fix me but somewhere in my gut, my heart, I just know that it’s the right path,” Emma said.

“I’m one of those people that if I put my mind to something, I feel like I can do it. My partner has taken this far worse than I have.”

“That said I have cried and I’ve gone down that “Oh my god. Why me? Why is this happening?” path. I’m fit. I go to gym every day. I’m healthy. I don’t eat rubbish. I did like a drink (I’ve completely stopped now) but I just would never have imagined in a million years that I’d sit there and someone would tell me I have stage four cancer.”

Emma is advising women to regularly check their breasts because her prognosis might have been much worse if she had waited much longer.

“Everyone’s getting diagnosed so much younger with this so if you feel like you’ve got something, you’ve got to push and you’ve got to get your results, and you’ve got to be on it and say, “I’m not waiting a week or two weeks”,” she said.

“If I’d have left it or waited until the end of February for my next scan I could have been dead.”

“I honestly didn’t think anything of it when I felt the lump so people just need to realize that cancer is more common now in younger people. Get the ultrasound, double-check… triple-check.”

Emma is still struggling to understand how the cancer could have spread so quickly. Twelve months ago, she underwent a mammography, and the results were entirely clear.

She is making every effort to stop the cancer from spreading until she can travel to Mexico.

In addition to taking hormone blockers and following a plant-based ketogenic diet that reduces sugar, refined carbs, and alcohol, she is also making an effort to look after her mental health.

“I feel very overwhelmed by everything. My head is spinning and I wake up thinking oh my god, I’m going to die” sometimes but I’m trying to stay super positive,” Emma said.

I am deeply grateful for the generosity of people who have so far given me the strength I need to fight this.

“I have so much fight in me, and I promise that I am and will continue to do everything in my power to fight this b**** called cancer.”

“I know this is not my time.”