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My wife, Zoe, and I had been married just nine months when we received the devastating news that she had breast cancer.
She was only 30; healthy and happy. Cancer simply wasn’t on our radar.
Our lives became a waking nightmare.
But now, ten months later, Zoe is cancer-free and on medication to keep the cancer from returning. When I look back now, it seems utterly incredible that we’re here. It’s a miracle.
Zoe and I met at university. We became best friends almost instantly, and after a year of friendship, we started dating in 2015. She was and still is utterly hilarious and has an infectious smile.
In 2022 I proposed to Zoe on a beautiful beach in the Dominican Republic. It felt natural and I was over the moon that we could start the next chapter of our lives together.
We got married in 2024, and it was everything we had dreamed of. I felt overwhelmed with emotions and ecstatic to spend the day with all our nearest and dearest.
We had plans to start a family soon after the wedding. We always wanted many children of our own, and Zoe being a primary school teacher she was drawn to children as a vocation, but the cancer diagnosis changed all that.
This is the start of a new chapter.
It was during a school trip that she first noticed a lump under her armpit. It was small, just 2mm, but it caused her discomfort and she could clearly see it.
Despite thinking it was likely to be a cyst, she booked an appointment with her GP. She was referred to hospital for tests, a biopsy and a mammogram, but never for a moment did we think we’d find out the worst news of our lives.
Zoe got her results straight after the mammogram and ultrasound, luckily her mum had gone with her. When the doctors broke the news that it was breast cancer, it was a devastating shock.
She called me at work immediately, and I could hear the fear in her voice. I was utterly stunned. I rushed home to be there for her. I couldn’t quite take it all in and was petrified, but had to be strong.
At that point, her diagnosis was Grade 2 breast cancer, which is described as ‘early stage’. But a few weeks later, Zoe underwent a PET scan, and was informed that the cancer had spread to her pelvis.
Her cancer was now metastatic, which we were told was incurable. It was the worst day imaginable. The doctors told us our lives would no longer be as we planned and we went home, crying for days.
Genetic testing later revealed that Zoe carried the BRCA2 gene variation, meaning she always had a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer.
The diagnosis was crushing – but we were determined to fight. Her dad had had bowel cancer which spread to his liver – he’d been given a less than 5% chance, but he survived.
So we adopted the same approach as him. We changed our diet to purely organic healthy foods, removing all processed foods, engaged in exercise and focused on doing everything we could to stay as healthy as possible during the chemotherapy.
The doctors explained that she would need seven rounds of chemotherapy, followed by lifelong medication. Surgery wasn’t an option because the cancer had already spread to Zoe’s bones, which meant that a double mastectomy isn’t recommended.
Everything moved quickly. Zoe began chemo almost immediately – losing all her hair in the process – and went on hormone therapy to suppress her ovaries, which put her into early menopause. It was horrendous but her constant positivity was inspiring.
She was able to run and do pilates between chemo rounds which surprised even the oncologists and nurses.
After seven rounds of chemo over five months, the results were incredible.
The cancer in her pelvis was no longer detectable. I’ve never felt relief like it.
Even better, this made her eligible for a double mastectomy now. We could remove the primary source of cancer from the breast – a far better option for long term control.
Now Zoe was on a curative pathway – something we hadn’t dared hope for.
The surgery was a success, and the remaining cancer cells in her lymph nodes were removed. Zoe was then given an oral chemotherapy drug, which she will take for three years after which she might have her ovaries removed as a preventative measure. She will also undergo radiotherapy.
I’m still nervous, though. Zoe has a CT scan every three or four months, and waiting for the results is a horrible experience that we have to live with.
Throughout this journey, fundraising has been a source of strength and purpose for me. Running has helped me mentally as an outlet through this awful experience, and raising money and awareness feels like a way I can help.
I ran the London Marathon for Prevent Breast Cancer last weekend and raised over £65,000 which will go towards helping the charity find new ways of preventing breast cancer.
As for Zoe, she’s doing amazingly and she even joined me for the final parts of my long runs helping me with the final 5-7k which was such a boost. Mentally, we both are doing great and well, truly in our healthy era.
Our wedding vows have been tested and we passed.
And now, we feel like we can finally start to move ahead with the married life we had planned. We plan to start a family through surrogacy and live life to the full.
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Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·