STV NewsA mum-of-two diagnosed with an incurable form of breast cancer fears for her children after being diagnosed for a fifth time last year.
Rachel Borthwick, 36, received the heart-breaking news she had an inoperable tumour in her chest last November after first finding a lump in September 2021.
Rachel, the partner of St Johnstone player Graham Carey, has two children; nine-year-old Jaxon and Marlowe, seven.
Throughout her journey she has been through four different chemotherapy treatments, radiotherapy and immunotherapy – after finding lumps and tumours.
She described the “devastating” moment she found out the triple negative breast cancer that had plagued her for two years had reached stage four.
STV NewsRachel told STV News: “The doctors had gone out of the room to discuss how to tell me – that’s when I knew it was bad.
“When they told me, we were all silent after it. Just in shock.
“I remember being really concerned about why they couldn’t operate.
“They told me even if they could reach it, it’s too close to a main artery. I could die on the table.
“The reality hit that it was now incurable.
“I wasn’t thinking about dying. Mentally I was thinking, ‘I can’t die, my kids need me.’ But the reality was hitting,” she added.
“I don’t think it will ever fully sink in, even now.”
STV NewsUntil Rachel was diagnosed she had always led a healthy, active lifestyle, regularly going to the gym and practicing dance at college.
By chance, she discovered a lump between her breast and armpit aged 33 in September 2021.
She opted to go private for a mammogram and ultrasound at Ross Hall in Crookston when it emerged she would have a longer wait due to her young age.
After doctors discovered a “fluffy” mass during the scan, she underwent a biopsy.
With her mum holding her hand in the medical room, Rachel was given the news she had triple negative breast cancer in October 2021.
“It was the least common of the breast cancers and the most aggressive,” she said. “There were fewer treatments and a poor prognosis. I hadn’t heard of it. We were in shock, I don’t even know if I could cry.
“I didn’t want to know anything at that point. It was like someone had died.”
She told partner Graham, who was training in Bulgaria, to remain there while she begun chemotherapy in December 2021.
But she was forced to break the news to her young children, then aged seven and five.
“I told them I needed medicine to make the bad cells go away and that I might lose all my hair.
“They were a bit worried but they just got on with life as if it was nothing. I wore a cold cap and was able to hide the bald patches.
“It hit harder as they got older.”
Rachel underwent three rounds of chemotherapy which she completed in March 2022 before undergoing ten days of radiotherapy in April 2022.
Tests revealed there was no evidence of cancer cells following the treatment.
“I’ve always said chemotherapy was kind to me – I didn’t get all the symptoms. I didn’t lose all of my hair.
“It’s more the mental side of it after that. I read once that life after cancer is harder than life with cancer. I didn’t understand that until I had to.
“I was cancer-free in my head but living with the fear of it coming back is the worst.”
Her worst fears were confirmed a year later when she discovered another lump near her armpit.
After a biopsy revealed it was the same cancer, Rachel underwent a full lymph node removal last March and was given a course of chemotherapy tablets the following month.
She was three-quarters of the way through the treatment when another lump was found near the scar tissue, which was removed in June 2023.
In September 2023, Rachel went to the hospital after detecting another lump in the same area and, while awaiting biopsy results, she discovered a lump in her chest near her collarbone.
She was taken in at Stobhill Hospital to see her surgeon. This time, she chose to go alone to “shield” her family.
There, she was given the tragic news her cancer had returned and was now inoperable – her fifth diagnosis in two years.
“I was a paranoid, nervous wreck by now with how many I have found. Each time I got on that operating table, I was shaking uncontrollably,” she said.
“I had by then built up a good relationship with my surgeon, so when she went eerily quiet, I could tell something was wrong before she told me.”
In December 2023, Rachel began a four-month round of chemotherapy and immunotherapy continued until September, when tests showed cancer cells remained present in her chest.
She has since been seeking alternative therapies before beginning another aggressive form of chemotherapy in December.
Nearly £80,000 has been raised on a GoFundMe page set up by her sister Sarah.
Though she is struggling to come to terms with her prognosis, she said she has made it her mission to share her story with others online.
She said: “I wanted to use my journey to help people save their own lives. I’ve been absolutely inundated with messages.
“I have people contacting me to say ‘I never checked myself until I’ve seen your post and I’ve found a lump’.
“One woman who checked because of my post has sadly found out she has cancer. I burst into tears reading her message – but she said she wouldn’t have found out without my post.
“I always tell women who are waiting for results ‘keep yourself busy. ‘
“I am always doing things with the kids – taking them to classes and booking activities for the weekend. I don’t allow myself to get upset in front of them – they are my rock. It helps take my mind off things.
“I’ll also go to the gym during the week when they are at school.
“I’m quite bad at asking for help, but I’ve learned to ask for it. My mum will come round and iron or make dinner when I can’t bring myself to.
“It’s hard – but my support network is good. There is always someone there for me.”
Rachel urges men and women of all ages not to be complacent and to check their body for signs of cancer.
She said: “Don’t automatically assume because you’re young that you’re okay. It is getting worse and more common among young women. It’s so important to keep checking yourself.
“It should be spoken about more. It’s better when people speak about it.”
Rachel and her family are looking forward to having Christmas together.
“We want to savour these memories, every birthday and Christmas is more precious than ever. We want to make everything special as it’s different now,” she said.
“We don’t know what is going to happen and I don’t feel right thinking about how much time I’ve got left. I don’t think I’ll ever accept it.
“I don’t think my kids should be left without a mum. This shouldn’t be happening.”
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