Welcome to Wrexham's Maxine Hughes talks about cancer battle

Leader Live

2 days ago

Maxine Hughes starred alongside Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds in the hugely-popular Welcome to Wrexham series.
In the series, Maxine, who is also a journalist, would tease the pair as they struggled to come to terms with some Welsh phrases.
But, there is a side to her story that the documentary did not show.
Mum-of-two Maxine, originally from Conwy but low living in Washington DC, has just recently revealed that she has just finished her 20th round of chemotherapy.
She is also facing a double mastectomy, something which will be filmed for an upcoming documentary about her cancer journey.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: "Until recently the word cancer was almost like a death sentence. You hear it and you go, 'oh my god, am I gonna die?' You suddenly go to the worst place and you start thinking 'can I stay alive for five years? Can I get my kids to school?'
'It's definitely a really dark place, but then you start the treatment and you have to just get on with it. Having two very energetic boys has forced me to stay active, to keep getting up for early morning sports practice. I've had very little time to stop and get depressed.'
Maxine says she discovered a lump just a few days after her 80-year-old dad John died.
She added: 'I was sitting there and I put my hand on my chest and thought, 'oh my God, there's a lump and it's quite a big one'. '
'As a journalist I've covered so many stories about cancer, whether it's about waiting times or a new treatment. So it was such a weird, surreal experience becoming my own story. I remember the moment very clearly, I almost fainted. I was in such shock.'
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Following a biopsy, Maxine found out that her cancer was 'Triple Negative'.
She said: "It was almost a bigger shock than finding out I had cancer. It's such an aggressive type of cancer it's really scary, they started chemotherapy straight away."
According to The Mirror, Maxine is responding well to treatment and next month will have her double mastectomy.
She added: 'It is an incredibly invasive surgery that will drastically change you physically as a woman. And I think that personally I haven't found enough out there. It's like you've got to save your breasts. There's quite a pressure on women, like it's part of your femininity.
'But I don't want the tissue. That's the conversation I want out there, it's okay if you don't want to do anything and not have any reconstruction. I didn't want to save them. I want to cut them off. '
Maxine will soon be returning to Wrexham as she is one of many set to be recognised at the Eisteddfod.
She will join the likes of Mark Lewis Jones in being honoured by the Gorsedd.
Maxine will also lead the Wales and the World at the Eisteddfod when it arrives in Wrexham between August 2 and 9.