Devon MP reveals cancer diagnosis in moving statement

Tiverton & Minehead MP Rachel Gilmour has revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent two surgeries and 16 rounds of radiotherapy. The Liberal Democrat MP who won the new seat of Tiverton and Minehead in July 2024 wrote about her diagnosis in an official letter on World Cancer Day, Tuesday, February 4.

She shared her story with the hope of removing the stigma and some of the fear surrounding Cancer and celebrating “human ingenuity. In the letter she revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Christmas in 2019. She added that out of her grandmother’s four children, three of them died of cancer – including two in their early 60s.

She said: “They were not heavy drinkers or smokers; they grew their own vegetables and bought their meat from local farms. There was no history of cancer previously in my family. They were just unlucky, and I miss them still.

“Cancer is still a chronic disease, but it is a chronic disease that nowadays people can live with. The progress made into cancer treatments and drugs must surely be one of the greatest medical achievements in all our lifetimes.

“I am young enough to remember that a diagnosis of cancer 40 years or so ago, was fearful. Now, so many of my friends and family have been diagnosed and successfully treated. This is partly down to medications but also to early detection – mammograms, cervical smears, bowel cancer testing, prostate cancer testing – do not keep putting them off.

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 – just before Christmas. The young doctor was brilliant. “Yes”, he said “it’s breast cancer, but it’s not going to kill you” as he pointed to the tumour in my right breast. 6 weeks later I had undergone 2 operations and was embarking on 16 rounds of radiotherapy.”

Rachel described her treatment from the NHS and its staff as “magnificent”. She said: “The NHS was magnificent, nurses, radiographers, doctors, even the Australian oncologist who joked about how grim the side effects of the drug he was to prescribe would be. How right he is. I will be so glad to come off them in July [2025].

“Slipping a prosthetic right breast into my bra every morning has just become part of my routine although I obviously avoid low cut tops – a plastic boob is not a good look.”

Rachel went on to add that out of the three women she employs in her office, two of them have had or are receiving treatment for breast cancer. She added that it makes the office dynamic “extra special”.

She said: “Three out of four of us have gone through the breast cancer journey. It makes for an extra special office dynamic – we only have three breasts between us and offer each other support and insights often.”

Rachel’s office manager and cabinet member at Mid Devon District Council, Gwen, is one of the women in the office who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She said: “Cancer is journey no one chooses, but one that reshapes everything. My diagnosis was a storm, from a routine mammogram – to a world spun on its axis and shaken up-side down.

“My life was full of uncertainty, surgery, and treatment plans. Some days I felt strong and others – well, it was never going to be a walk in the park.

“Support from loved ones became my anchor, and even in the hardest moments – there was humour and tenderness. The kindness of strangers, the care of nurses, doctors and the specialists who have been there will always remain a positive take out from such a strange time in my life. I hope to complete my treatment soon.

“I want to be one of the 76% who survive for more than 10 years – I will try my best to – in gratitude for those who invested in me and our wonderful NHS. Yes, it has changed me – but I will not be defined by cancer. I will be shaped by the wonderful people I meet on the journey.”

Rachel’s case worker, Sarah, also experienced cancer. She said: “I was not without my woolly hat during chemo and beyond. The chemo caused me a lot of pain to the scalp and the woolly hat was the only thing that helped the pain with the chemo attacking the hair follicles.

“There were some real ups and lows. I would like to pay tribute to Look Good Feel Better who were incredibly good with online support, workshops, and self-care advice during the hideous effects. My cancer journey was brutal, as my body rejected my first surgery reconstruction.

“During chemo, my mastectomy did not heal, and I then had to have a second mastectomy on the same site two years later, which still has not healed due to the ongoing medication. I had chemo very swiftly after surgery, which did not heal during the chemo onslaught.

“Chemo attacks the good cells as well as the bad, and the healing process is hard. It really is true, that what does not kill you makes you a hell of a lot stronger. Out the other side, albeit somewhat scathed.

“A chest that resembles an underground map, but still here, cancer free, and a deeply entrenched empathy for others who are battling one thing or another, whether it is cancer, or some other fight that needs support. There are some very dark days during chemo that nearly break you but give you a much stronger ability to then cope with difficulties once the cancer storm has passed.

“I have lost a few friends along the way during my cancer journey, those cancer warriors that were not as lucky as myself, a situation that sobers the mind to make the most of every day and try to leave a legacy whilst we are here, as the material stuff does not matter in the grand scheme of things.”

Rachel Gilmour MP is a Breast Cancer UK Champion and supports the CoppaFeel campaign.