Woman, 38, Learns Her Cancer Has Spread — 4 Years After Double Mastectomy: ‘Best-Case Scenario Is a Couple Years’

Mar. 15, 2025

Laura Wharam and Jake Watt thought she had appendicitis — but discovered her breast cancer had metastasized.Photo:Jake Watt / SWNS

Jake Watt / SWNS

A woman who had a double mastectomy — and was told she was in remission — has been given the bleak news that herbreast cancerhas spread, leaving her with “a couple years.”

Laura Wharam, now 38, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 after she noticed a growth on herbreast. She had a double mastectomy — and was believed to be in remission.

However, as her fiancé, Jake Watt, 35, shares, she started to feel under the weather in early 2025. When she became jaundiced, he rushed her to the hospital, according toThe Daily Mail.Watt thought her yellowed skin, along with her fatigue and loss of appetite, indicated she had appendicitis — as jaundicecan be a symptomof the condition.

Laura Wharam and Jake Watt are raising money for end-of-life care after the return of her breast cancer.Jake Watt / SWNS

However, Watt says they were told not only had her breast cancer returned, but it hadmetastasized, spreading to her liver, bones, and lungs.

“It was the worst possible news. It’s such a shock to the system,” he said. “I’ve cried everyday since the diagnosis. It’s been such a whirlwind.”

While her cancer is “incurable,” he says she’s “having chemotherapy to try to slow it down.”

“Laura and I haven’t yet talked about everything moving forwards,” he said, praising his fiancée for being “strong.”

Laura Wharam and Jake Watt are raising money for her end-of-life care.Jake Watt / SWNS

“She’s from Yorkshire,” Watt said of the English terrritory. “Northern girls are built differently.”

He added, “She’s only 5 ft. I always say I don’t know how they fit so much strong in her.”

The couple has established aGoFundMeto provide for Wharam’s “end-of-life care,” Watt explains, adding, “I’m really not good with asking people for anything. It’s probably a pride thing,' he said. “‘But it became a last resort because I want to make sure Laura doesn’t go without.”

Breast cancer rates in women under 40 are rising in the U.S. as well, with researchers calling the surge“alarming.”

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source: people.com