This 26-Year-Old Is Owning Breast Cancer Awareness With Revealing Blog ‘When Things Went T*ts Up’

Facebook/Amber Arkell

A 26-year-old breast cancer patient has taken to Facebook to share details of her experience with the disease in a desire to “inspire and motivate others.”

Amber Arkell hopes to raise awareness of the disease though her blog ‘When things went tits up’, in which she shares intimate details of her treatment and recovery.

In a recent vlog Amber said she wants to educate other people about breast cancer “so that no one else my age has to go through this process and so that no one’s daughter has to go through this process.”

Last year Amber was diagnosed with stage one, grade two breast cancer. Despite undergoing a partial mastectomy follow up treatment revealed the cancer had worsened.

A full calendar year of chemotherapy and other treatment now lies ahead for the young New Zealander. “Obviously it’s a bit scary, it feels like a big hill to climb,” she said in her vlog. But she remains proactive, using her blog to answer questions from supporters and get her head around her circumstances.

As a precaution Amber has opted to have IVF, “It is purely just a precautionary measure in case my body doesn’t bounce back once treatment has finished,” she explained. Over several posts this month Amber shared the details of her fertility treatment culminating in the brilliant news that her eggs were successfully harvested.

Amber plans to start her year of treatment on her own terms, beating the chemo-related hair loss with a “shave my hair barbecue,” ahead of her therapy. “I don’t want cancer to take my hair away from me along with everything else,” she said.

Amber expressed gratitude for her doctors swift diagnosis and for the love and support from her boyfriend, family, friends and colleagues. She says she’s looking forward to “kicking this thing in the ass and moving on with life.”