Amy Dowden opened up to HELLO! last month about her breast cancer diagnosis and on Wednesday, she shared with fans that she'd started her treatment.
The professional dancer took to Instagram to post an image of herself in hospital, and it showed the optimistic star sitting up in bed while wearing a hospital gown, beaming and holding her thumbs up. The Strictly fan favourite captioned the image with a determined message.
Amy wrote: "Step one to beating cancer! Rrrrrrready for this fight and more determined than ever to get back on the dance floor… #breastcanceryoung #checkyourchest #checkyourlemons #letsdothis #breastcancerawareness."
© InstagramHer former Strictly partner Tom Fletcher commented: "Sending you all the love today. Us Fletchers are right behind you X."
"You got this @amy_dowden," her co-star Gorka Marquez wrote, while former contestant Sara Davies added: "You’ve got this! [heart emojis]," and 2018 champion Stacey Dooley posted three red hearts.
© PA ImagesOther followers of the dancer chimed in with kind messages, which included: "Sending all the love, you've got this! Xxx," and: "Sending you all of the love in the world! You're going to beat this and I cannot wait for you to be back to doing what you love most."
© GettyAmy shared the news of her diagnosis in an exclusive interview with HELLO! last month. "I've been through quite a lot in my life and this is another hurdle," Amy, 32, said.
© Instagram"But if I'm positive and strong, I've got a really good chance of getting back out on the dancefloor as soon as possible."
Bravely sharing her personal news, which she only received the previous week, the Welsh-born dancer revealed that she hopes to raise awareness of the disease and help others going through their own diagnoses.
"With what I've done for Crohn’s, I want to do the same here,” explains Amy, whose advocacy around her chronic condition has included making a powerful BBC documentary, Strictly Amy: Crohn's and Me. "If I can try and turn this negative into a positive, it's going to help me get through this."
"You just don't ever think it's going to happen to you," she adds. "I hadn't thought it was possible to get breast cancer at my age. My mum has had breast cancer, but she had it at a later age, in her 50s."
It was Amy's experience of doing the CoppaTrek! with Gi – the fundraising 100km walk led by Giovanna Fletcher in support of breast health awareness charity CoppaFeel! – last June that ultimately led her to discover her own breast cancer.
"Last year, I did the CoppaFeel! trek and I spoke to so many incredible ladies who had battled breast cancer. I was thinking to myself: 'I don't even check my breasts'," says Amy, who married fellow professional dancer Ben Jones last July.
© Getty"This last year, obviously, I made a conscious effort to check my breasts. CoppaFeel! has now potentially saved my life, because I don't know how long this lump could have been there before I would have noticed and done something about it. So me speaking out might end up saving some other people's lives because they start checking their breasts."
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