Striding onwards — Lucie Watson shares hope in breast cancer fight

From the outside, Lucie Watson may be the same person as she always was.

But she cannot escape from the truth that her fight against breast cancer has been life-changing, leaving her at times unable to recognise the person staring back at her in the mirror.

Her fight for survival and her determination to beat the cruel illness has left an indelible mark on the mum-of-three from Kirkwall.

She is still coming to terms and accepting how the cancer has changed her but having gone through hell and back, she is now on a mission to help others.

She is urging men and women to check themselves regularly, and is determined to remind others that they don’t have to go it alone in their battle against the disease.

“Cancer has taken so much from me,” explained Lucie, speaking candidly to The Orcadian.

“I’m not the person I once was, physically or emotionally. I’ve had to watch my identity change in ways I never imagined.

“Some days, I struggle to recognise the person I’ve become, and I’m still learning to find my way through a life that looks so different from the one I knew.”

Her journey began in July 2025, with the shock diagnosis that she had breast cancer.

When she first found a lump whilst checking herself, it never occurred to her that it could be cancer. Being only 45 at the time, she did not feel like cancer was a possible cause.

When a second lump was found, Lucie’s partner of 23 years Dylan Rosie, encouraged her to go to the doctors to be checked.

That led to a battery of tests including a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsies in Aberdeen.

Then Lucie and Dylan received the shattering news that no one can be fully prepared to hear: there was a high chance that this was breast cancer.

“From that day on, my world just split in two,” says Lucie, who works at the Barrier View Cafe in Holm.

“The way I look at it, it’s like a mountain that you’re forced to climb — that you don’t want to climb, but you’ve got to.”

After the diagnosis, it was endless trips back and forth to Aberdeen.

Though Dylan could travel with Lucie for the appointments, it was still an extremely difficult and isolating process for all members of the family.

“It’s the uncertainty of the waiting period. I’d say to anybody that’s just starting their diagnosis, that’s the worst part.”

In August, the results of the second biopsy confirmed that the cancer had spread to Lucie’s lymph nodes.

In October, Lucie had to stop working to focus on treatments and in November, 18 weeks after the diagnosis, Lucie had an operation — a left skin and nipple-sparing mastectomy, as well as removing all of the axillary lymph nodes on her left side.

The surgery was deemed a success: everything cancerous had been removed and sent for testing.

The pathology report revealed that Lucie had both Invasive Ductal Carcinoma grade two, and Invasive Lobular Cancer grade two.

Out of the 18 lymph nodes removed, three were cancerous, meaning chemotherapy was now essential.

Six months after her diagnosis, in January, 2026, Lucie began 16 rounds of chemotherapy, treatment that took six months to complete.

“The day I walked into that room, I didn’t come out the same person.”

She feels incredibly fortunate that her family and friends could sit beside her during chemotherapy at Macmillan, a huge source of support at such a traumatic time.

“I’ll always be thankful to everyone who sat with me through chemotherapy,” she says.

“Those long hours could feel daunting, but having someone beside me to talk to, laugh with or simply share the silence made everything easier.”

Scalp cooling — a cold cap used to cool down the scalp to try and prevent hair loss during treatment, helped Lucie keep around 50 per cent of her hair.

On July 1, nearly a year after her first being diagnosed with breast cancer, Lucie rang the bell, surrounded by her friends and family.

“When I rang the bell, it was a good day,” Lucie recalled, “but I was quite overwhelmed by it too.

“I had to grasp what had happened — what I had been through. I still find it quite emotional now.”

Ringing the bell means different things for different people, but for Lucie it symbolised the end of active treatment — reaching the mountain summit before turning on to preventative treatments to stop the cancer returning.

“As I walked into having chemo I knew exactly what I was needing to do,” says Lucie.

“I didn’t know how it was going to affect me, but I knew from that day on I was ringing that bell. I was determined that I was going to get through this.”

Lucie recalled a piece of advice she was given during her journey: Take one day at a time, and one step at a time. Lucie still lives by this mantra.

“I think a lot of people — not family or friends, but maybe the wider community, they see you and they think that’s you better, but they don’t realise the impact.

“Although the chemo is done, that can be when the battle begins.”

The fear that something may have been missed, the exhaustion of all the treatments and the fear of getting too excited and then the cancer returning, means that for Lucie, celebrating being ‘cancer free’ doesn’t feel possible.

“Chemo ends but it’s still very much present in day-to-day life. 

“Even now, trying to remember things, it can be frustrating.” 

Now that chemotherapy is over, Lucie is being put into a medically induced menopause to help prevent cancer reforming.

“My cancer was hormone driven, so it was fed by my hormones basically. So they need to deplete that, they need to shut them down.”

To do this, Lucie faces seven years of hormone tablets, injections and three years of bone infusions.

Lucie also requires another surgery for reconstruction following her mastectomy.

Lucie returned to work in June while still receiving chemo. She said the team at Celina Rupp’s Barrier View Cafe has been phenomenal in their support for her and her family, allowing her to return through a phased plan.

A moment of celebration and a source of strength during Lucie’s journey was the arrival of a first grandchild.

Lucie and Dylan have three children, Scott, 21, Isla, 19 and James, 15, with four-month-old Davie the son of Isla.

“Having kids and my grandson, that gives you something to focus on. They have kept me going.”

Lucie’s family has been her focus throughout, helping support her, and given her the determination to keep going.

“Through all of this, one thing has remained constant throughout — my family and their efforts at keeping me as positive minded as possible even on the toughest days I couldn’t face.

“Cancer doesn’t just affect the person diagnosed, it touches the people who love them too.

“My family have been on this journey alongside me, sharing the worry, the uncertainty and the difficult days, while trying to keep life going around us.

“There are no words to fully explain how much having them beside me has meant.”

Not only has Lucie helped to support others on their journey, she is urging people to become aware of the importance of everybody — men or women — checking themselves frequently for signs of breast cancer.

“Breast cancer doesn’t always present itself as a lump,” she says.

“And I want people to understand how important it is to know their bodies, check themselves regularly and seek advice sooner rather than later if something doesn’t feel right. Early detection is key.”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Lucie has walked more than 100 miles to raise funds for Breast Cancer Now.

Last Saturday, Lucie walked four miles of her challenge alongside Walks for Wellbeing, with people turning out in their droves to support Lucie.

Lucie has now raised over £1,700 for Breast Cancer Now.

“If I could just help one person with my messages, then I’ve done what I set out to do, which was to raise awareness. 

“That’s what this is all about, just making sure people are checking themselves.

“Just check yourself.”