At 39 years old, this Windsor woman is battling breast cancer for a second time

Five years after she was initially diagnosed with Stage 3 lobular breast cancer, 39-year-old Mercedes Buhagiar thought she was in the clear when the cancer went into remission.

She had completed chemotherapy, underwent three surgeries and received radiation treatment.

"I had graduated from the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre. I was living my life. Everything was great," she said.

But after experiencing severe neck pains last year, scans showed a "destructive mass" in her spine. A further investigation revealed the breast cancer had returned and metastatised to her bones.

There is a renewed focus on cancer's ability to affect seemingly young and healthy people around the world following the unexpected announcement that the Princess of Wales, Catherine "Kate" Middleton, is undergoing chemotherapy.

It's not clear what type of cancer Middleton has or what stage it is in.

In a video announcement Friday, Middleton, 42, said the diagnosis came as a "huge shock." That's exactly how Buhagiar, who is three years younger, said she felt upon learning of her second diagnosis.

After experiencing some neck pain in Jan. 2023, a physiotherapist brought her some relief. But in July that year, Buhagiar started feeling pressure in the center of her back whenever she ran longer than five minutes.

She underwent bone scans in Oct. 2023 but doctors could not see the results until Feb. 2024 because of the cyberattack on area hospitals.

"I work out every day. I eat properly. I take care of myself. I did everything that I was supposed to do and it still came back," said Buhagiar.

Buhagiar, whose cancer is in Stage 4, said her BRCA gene test — which looks for a specific set of genes associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer — came back negative.

"There's nothing I could possibly do better to not get cancer," she said. "My aunt passed away from breast cancer which had metastasized to different parts in her body when she was 54. But, again, I don't have the gene so there's no reason why I should have cancer."

Images of Mercedes Buhagiar's bone scans which showed the breast cancer had metastasized to her bones. (Source: Mercedes Buhagiar)

According to Ontario Health data, the cancer incident rate (per 100,000 people) in the Erie St. Clair health network increased by 589.4 in 2019 to 598.6 in 2023.

Erie St. Clair's cancer incident rate is the second-highest in Ontario, provincial data shows.

"Throughout the pandemic, accessing primary care went down across the board. Across the healthcare continuum, we see that's resulted in much later detections of more serious problems, with cancer screening being one of the top among those," said Windsor Regional Hospital's regional vice president of cancer services Jonathan Foster.

When asked exactly what's causing higher rates of cancer, Foster said it's a very "complex and systemic" question. He pointed to changes in different environmental factors and "people's health patterns."

There are also those individuals who have cancer but live a healthy lifestyle.

According to Buhagiar, there was a 10-month delay in her first breast cancer diagnosis in 2016. She had a lump in her breast but her doctor at the time passed it off as "dense breast tissue" which would go away once she had children.

Her initial diagnosis only came after she broke her big toe while trying to move furniture, she added.

"I ended up going back to my doctor and saying, 'Listen, this is weird that I have this lump in my breast and now my big toe is not healing after six to eight weeks," said Buhagiar, adding her doctor determined her toe wasn't healing because her immune system was trying to tackle breast cancer that was later detected.

"So even though there was a lump, it was overlooked because I was young. I was just 31 years old so it couldn't be breast cancer. Turns out that was wrong."

Foster said this example proves how important it is for people to know how to advocate for themselves, even if they feel their doctor may not take their symptoms seriously.

"Health care is a partnership between yourself as a person and whoever your health care provider is. Arming yourself with knowledge going into those conversations is so important," said Foster.

"Screening can detect asymptomatic cancer starts which really don't have much impact on the person yet. People often think it won't happen to them because they're in great health but we know cancer doesn't work that way."

As for Buhagiar, she is getting ready to be transferred to Toronto to undergo specialized cancer treatment. For now, she's facing the reality of having to go back to the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre after previously graduating.

"The hardest part is seeing so many young faces getting rediagnosed. I don't know what's happening in our environment or what's happening that so many young people are having to deal with cancer,"  said Buhagiar.

"It's just a hard pill to swallow."