'I run, work out and physically feel fine - but cancer has spread round my body and is now incurable'

After taking on cancer twice, Ruth Wood thought there was no chance she could be so unlucky that it would strike a third time. But, at the age of just 41, she’s been told the disease has spread around her body and is incurable.

The civil servant, from Kidderminster, was diagnosed with secondary metastatic breast cancer shortly after her 40th birthday. “It’s the last news anyone wants to receive but I can try and get on with life and live as much as possible – or I can sit at home and wait for the inevitable,” she told BirminghamLive.

“I chose the first option.” Cancer has denied Ruth the chance of having her own children but the step-mum of two remains determined to live life to the full, with hopes that new research and medication could grant her more time in the future.

Ruth tells her story in support of a petition for early breast cancer screening from the age of 40, instead of 50, to help catch the disease early and save lives. Join BirminghamLive in supporting the petition to the Government – you can sign here.

“Having had two brushes with cancer before, I thought I’d done my stint really,” she explained. “I physically felt well, I run, I go to the gym, I look after myself, I’m not perfect, I still like red wine and chocolate and all that jazz, but I thought I was giving my body the best chance so there’s no way I would be that unlucky.”

After cervical cancer in her early 30s and unconnected breast cancer when she was 36, Ruth never suspected it had returned when undergoing a scan for lymphedema in her left arm. “They identified the cancer had metastasised and it had reoccurred in the lymph nodes in my breast, sternum, armpit and neck,” she recalled.

“It was a huge shock because I’d just turned 40 and was determined not to take cancer into my 40s. I had all sorts of plans and things I wanted to do but then I found myself back in the cycle of scans and hospitals and the headspace of ‘how am I going to deal with this, how am I going to live, how am I going to be?’

Ruth said her stepchildren, aged 24 and 15, were “the best thing ever” but cancer had denied her the chance to grow her family with her husband. She underwent a hysterectomy after her cervical cancer diagnosis, meaning she could no longer have her own children.

The couple were dealt a second blow as their hopes of adopting were dashed with the latest devastating diagnosis. She said: “My husband and I were weeks away from an approval panel to adopt, unfortunately all of that is no longer an option for us. The adoption agencies are very rigid.

“I’ve got this diagnosis and if you’re adopting, you’re adopting a child who has already had a lot of trauma in their lives. That was really difficult. My whole options around parenting were taken away which is probably one of the most distressing things for me really.”

Ruth spends a lot of her time with friends, family and travelling

Ruth, who still works full-time has been undergoing daily treatment to “keep the cancer at bay and keep me alive” since September 2022. She added: “I’m doing OK, I’m living, you wouldn’t think I have cancer to look at me, I don’t have any physical signs.

“I live and function and work and do all sorts of things I enjoy doing. It’s given me a determination to live as well as I can. I spend a lot of time with family and friends, I travel a lot.

“We do a lot of car-related events and things. We’re about to do the North Coast 500, my husband is restoring a Porsche.” Ruth now joins more than 800 supporters in pushing for early screening for breast cancer.

Ruth Wood on ‘scan day’

Asked about the petition, she said: “I was really heartened by it. I’ve come to realise people need to do is to strongly advocate for themselves and what feels right for them.

“There is huge merit in having screening at a much younger age to give women the best chance because early detection saves lives. The screening is absolutely integral.

“Having a scan as early as I had definitely helped because I was able to start the treatment quicker than I would have been able to. Hopefully by the time I need different kinds of medication, there’ll be all sorts of new research that gives me a bit longer.”

Asked her advice to other women, she added: “Know your body, know your normal. When you realise there is something that is not your normal, don’t feel your can’t flag that or that you’re being a nuisance.

Ruth Wood and her husband are set to do the North Coast 500 in a restored Porsche

“Don’t be afraid to push because when I had cervical cancer the first time, I had smear tests and they were normal but I was bleeding between periods. I was kind of dismissed really and told ‘you’re too young for anything to be of concern.’ Six months later I’m being told I have cervical cancer. You have to stick to your guns.

“For me as a secondary breast cancer patient, we need the commitment and the research. All of the options available, the screening, the research, the treatment, is absolutely vital to keep us going. One in two are affected by this now and you never think it’s going to be you.”

Join BirminghamLive in supporting the petition to fund breast cancer screening from the age of 40 – you can sign here.

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