Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden gives update on ‘nightmare week’ after being taken to hospital for blood clot
Dancer Amy Dowden says she was rushed to hospital nearly a month after finishing chemotherapy.
The Strictly Come Dancing star, who revealed she had breast cancer earlier this year, told Instagram followers of her “nightmare week” after she was taken into hospital on Monday.
In her story post, she said: “It seems to be never-ending… it came to our knowledge on Tuesday that I’ve got another blood clot on my lung and they were really worried that the clot was travelling to my heart or affecting my heart… luckily enough it’s not.
“Obviously this was a shock and it just means now… I’m really gutted… I was on blood thinners anyway for the blood clots in my arm… I’ve still got a blood clot on my lung and obviously, it’s quite close to my heart – there’s a risk.”
The 33-year-old also shared she is now receiving regular blood thinning injections for the “foreseeable”, and will have another scan in a few weeks.
“I’ve just been frustrated. I had lots planned this week: voice over, just getting my life back and it just seems to be like with my foot – soon as I get it back, something comes,” she added.
“There’s chemo still in my body for six weeks and it’s three weeks today since I finished.”
In May, Dowden was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer, and underwent a mastectomy.
In the first of her eight rounds of chemotherapy, the dancer contracted sepsis.
She finished her last round of treatment on 9 November, telling her Instagram followers she “cried all morning”.
Dowden joined Strictly in 2017 and has partnered with celebrities including Death In Paradise actor Danny John-Jules, EastEnders star James Bye and McFly’s Tom Fletcher.
She made it to the final of the show in 2019 while partnering TV presenter Karim Zeroual.
The NHS’s Royal Marsden notes some cancers, and some chemotherapy drugs, can increase the risk of developing blood clots.
If a part of the clot breaks free, it may travel to the lungs, causing shortness of breath or chest pain, in what is known as a pulmonary embolus.
The Royal Marsden added blood clots can be life-threatening, and treatment with blood-thinning drugs is usually given to help dissolve the clot and prevent further problems.