Carrol on the importance of advocating for yourself and others during cancer treatment

Published: 29 July 2025

Carrol, shares her experience of being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer and the importance of advocating for oneself during treatment. She highlights the support she received from a Macmillan nurse and the Macmillan Support Line.

Meet Carrol

Carrol is a retired primary school teacher and Macmillan volunteer of 14 years. After a routine mammogram, she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Her story offers advice on advocating for yourself and others.

Being diagnosed and finding support from Macmillan

“I was diagnosed through a routine mammogram. I didn't know there was a lump there or anything. It came as a complete bolt out of the blue. After this was my first experience of personally being involved with a Macmillan trained nurse.

She was the first person that we sat with, who chatted with me. Then after a distressing biopsy, she was the one who dealt with it. She was the one who dealt with the tears and was there with the hot sweet tea and the chocolate biscuits to try and help with the shock of everything. She was the nicest person, she helped turn a horrible negative experience into a more positive experience.

The unfortunate thing is, I got transferred to my local hospital so I didn't see her again. But she was very much there if I need anything, and I did need her because things didn't go as planned. She explained the type of procedure I’d have and said things would move quickly, but they didn’t. I ended up having to phone her in Edinburgh and say, ‘I know you don't deal with me anymore, but can you help?’ and she did. I had to do that twice even though she wasn't technically my nurse.

She was still there for me after all of that and she really helped. So that was such a positive experience.”

'I am now a complete Macmillan Support Line convert.'

Treatment delays and rebuilding confidence

Carrol is smiling at the camera, she has blonde hair and is wearing glasses. She is wearing a green t-shirt which reads Macmillan Cancer Support.

After her diagnosis, Carrol experienced a long wait to start treatment, which went beyond the 35-day guideline in Scotland.

Diagnosed in early December 2024, she didn't see an Oncologist until mid-January 2025. During this meeting, she learned that a scan showed concerns in her liver and kidney, requiring a further MRI to rule out stage 4 cancer. This left her feeling helpless and unable to advocate for herself. She contacted her Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) and the Macmillan Support Line, which sped up the process, and the scan results showed it wasn't stage 4.

“I am now a complete Macmillan Support Line convert. It was brilliant and you can be really honest with them and I think the fact that you're not sitting looking at someone helps you be honest.

She gave me the tools I needed. She helped me find myself and my voice so that I could advocate for myself. It was quite funny. I've been using this phrase now that she suggested, 'What is the intent…’

My Macmillan nurse told me always ask the question, ‘What's the intent? What's the intention of this treatment? What's the intention of this? What it is that we're trying to achieve with this?’

'It's alright to say, no, I'm not happy about this, even if it's a small thing.'

Everybody kept telling me, you need to start treatment as soon as possible. You need to start treatment, but nobody would tell me why. At the same time, they were delaying treatment and I kept thinking, you're not telling me why you're not starting it and you're not giving me results. You're not doing things quickly. Luckily, everything is started now.”

You shouldn't have to fight for yourself. It's alright to say, no, I'm not happy about this, even if it's a small thing.

This is the standard and this is what we expect, and I'm not even expecting super-duper standards, just a basic standard that everybody should be able to expect without having to feel like they're making a fuss.”

Carrol’s advice to others

"A piece of advice I would give someone is phone the helpline as soon as you get diagnosed.

I’m also a fan of the website. The information there was great. The nurse I spoke to directed me to information on the website, but I’d already read a lot of this. Being a retired teacher, I’d done my homework."