Justine Carson, 44, from Manchester, lives with incurable stage four breast cancer and every three months faces a scan that she says determines "how long I've got left". Now she is sharing her story to support a £42.5m appeal by the Manchester Evening News and The Christie Charity for a new world-leading scanning centre at The Christie hospital.
A diagnosis that changed everything
Justine was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 after noticing a "tiny dimple" on her breast. Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer at 44, which prompted her to get it checked, though she said she "absolutely didn't think it was cancer".
After a left-side mastectomy and reconstruction, she was declared cancer-free. But in March 2023, she received the devastating news that the cancer had returned to her breast, chest and lungs. Initially given a 12-month prognosis, she has been living with stage four breast cancer for three years, with scans every three months to check whether her treatment is working.
The psychological weight of scans
Justine described the scans as "so confronting". She said: "That's the exam result, isn't it? For someone like me, that determines whether you're going to be here at Christmas. That's what we're talking about. That scan, those results are going to tell me really how long I've got left. This is life or death. This is managing somebody's life expectancy."
She said having more scanning capacity "I can't tell you how valuable that will be".
Living life in three-monthly increments
Despite her prognosis, Justine says the last three years have been among the best of her life. She has travelled to Australia, driven across Canada, bought and renovated a house, joined a choir, walked a catwalk, and is walking the Camino pilgrimage across Spain with her brother.
But every three months, her focus returns to the scans. "I live my life in three-monthly increments," she said. "I struggle to plan or even contemplate life beyond that. I cannot emphasise the importance of scanning enough. The time immediately after a good scan is as good as it gets; it's the most confident I can ever feel about being alive."
She added: "On the flip side, any delay or disruption to my scanning schedule has an immediate and devastating impact on my daily life. Not only do these scans guide my treatment; but psychologically they give me valuable reassurance and a feeling of control. When they're delayed, the house of cards collapses, and my mental health takes a huge hit."
The need for more scanning capacity
The existing scanning centre at The Christie is under huge pressure, with patients sometimes facing long waits and scans sometimes being cancelled. Justine said when scans are affected by capacity issues, that sense of control can disappear. "That's when everything falls apart," she said. "It derails everything and you can spiral, because maybe you've had a little pain or something."
The Christie Charity says the new, much larger scanning centre will increase capacity and provide a better environment for patients undergoing scans. Justine added: "We simply need more scanning capacity. We can't do it without the people of Greater Manchester coming together to shape the future of cancer care."
