When Things Went Tits Up

Meet Amber Arkell – an inspirational guest speaker at our upcoming Pink Tie Event. Aged just 31, Amber has already beaten breast cancer twice. 

Words: Jo Bailey Images: Supplied by Amber Arkell

During her personal battle, she became a powerful advocate for breast self-examinations. Her blog ‘When things went tits up’ has reached thousands of women worldwide, and the information she has provided is credited with saving women’s lives. Amber tells her story to Jo Bailey, a fellow breast cancer survivor, who is also a speaker at the Pink Tie Event. Jo’s diagnosis coincided with her mother’s secondary breast cancer journey, resulting in shared experiences few mothers and daughters would wish to have.

In early December 2015, Amber Arkell had recently turned 26 years old and like most young people was looking forward to a fun festive season. Instead, her life was turned upside down, when she was diagnosed with Stage 1 Grade 3, triple positive breast cancer. “It was an aggressive form of breast cancer, but in the early stages, which I was so grateful for,” says Amber.

Amber had a partial mastectomy to remove the tumour and while there was no spread to her lymph nodes, her doctors decided to give her six rounds of chemotherapy given her young age. “I would love to be a mum one day, so I also had IVF to collect and preserve my eggs for the future.”

After being told she would lose her hair during the chemotherapy, Amber decided to have a ‘head shave barbecue’ for family and friends. “It was one of the most spectacular days of my life – right up there with my 21st and graduation. All the love and support strengthened me, and everyone took turns to shave my hair off. I took a moment to go into the bathroom to see myself with no hair. I had never felt more beautiful.”

Halfway through her treatment, Amber gave up her job in Auckland to focus on her health, and moved to Christchurch, where she finished chemotherapy, and carried on with Herceptin. She also opted for preventative surgery, a bilateral nipple sparing double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. 

By April 2018, Amber’s life was getting back on track. She had recovered well, and regained employment. Then one day, during a routine breast self-examination, she noticed some dimpling on the small amount of remaining breast tissue she had left. “I pushed for answers and it turned out I had the same type of Stage 1 breast cancer again, which thankfully had not metastasized anywhere else. If I hadn’t known that dimpling was a sign of breast cancer, it could have been much worse.”

Feeling disillusioned after all she was going through, Amber started to investigate complementary cancer treatments, and came across the Sanoviv Medical Institute in Mexico, a state-of-the-art hospital, which combines conventional, alternative and integrative programmes to treat a range of diseases including cancer. “I was going to take out a bank loan to go on the three-and-a-half week cancer programme at Sanoviv, then my friends and family really got behind me and through a range of amazing fundraisers, the whole trip was funded. It took away a huge stress.”

Amber went to Mexico in between her second surgery and targeted radiation. “I went through an intense detox programme and a complete rebuild of my immune system at Sanoviv, with lots of different treatments and therapies, alongside psychological, chiropractic, dentistry, nutrition, and health and wellbeing support. My body changed miraculously. I had never felt more healthy or healed.” 

Throughout all this time, Amber was regularly posting on her Facebook blog, ‘When things went tits up’, with her inspirational and frank posts demystifying the breast cancer experience and encouraging women to self-examine their breasts monthly. “I try to educate people about the importance of self-examination and knowing the signs of breast cancer beyond a lump. We also need to be our own best advocates. I know of women who were told they were too young to have cancer or it was passed off as something else. If you are worried, be the squeaky wheel and get a second opinion.” 

Many women have told Amber that because of her blog, their lives were saved, or they have been inspired to start breast self-examination. Amber won a Kiwibank Local Hero Award and Canterbury Braveheart Award for her incredible initiative. She is full of praise for organisations like Shocking Pink, which supports women under 45 with cancer, and Sweet Louise which supports people with metastatic breast cancer. She says it is also important to remember that 25 men get breast cancer in New Zealand each year.

Three years on, a CT scan has shown Amber is cancer free. She is working full time and enjoying life. “I have Ava, the most beautiful dog in the whole world, my career is back on track, and I’m on the journey to finding real love, both internally and with a best mate. It’s my time now.”

Amber Arkell and Jo Bailey will be speaking at the Pink Tie Event ‘A Day at the Races’ in support of the Breast Cancer Foundation, at Rangiora Harness Racing Club from 12pm on Sunday 23 May.