Tracey Crouch has had five months of exhausting treatment for breast cancer, all the while urging people, “check your bits and bobbins”, in the hope that she can help others spot signs of trouble early.
The Conservative MP, a former Sports Minister, had her last chemotherapy two weeks ago and, while she still faces radiotherapy, she is relieved the most gruelling part of her treatment is over.
She says: “It’s a huge relief. Already I can feel my body is returning to some form of normality.”
Tracey, 45, MP for Chatham and Aylesford in Kent, announced her diagnosis in a tweet last June. She says: “I really wanted to get across that it’s not just something that happens to older ladies.
“You can be young, you can be fit, you can be healthy, and still get cancer.”
The decision to speak so publicly about her diagnosis was not easy.
But Tracey, who lives in Aylesford, Kent with partner Steve Ladner, a radio presenter, and their son, Freddie, four, says: “It wasn’t something I could hide away from given I live in my constituency and I use the same oncology as everybody else who’s going through this.
“Once I realised I couldn’t privately battle cancer, then obviously it means I have a platform to talk about it.”
Between chemo sessions, she tried to live a normal life – before this lockdown taking Freddie to school, popping to the shops, going for walks and cycling.
She says: “I’m carrying on with my life because at the end of the day I’ve still got a lot of life to live.”
She has been supported by her family, including sister Carrie, who shaved her head in solidarity when Tracey began to lose her hair due to chemo, and other politicians who have had breast cancer.
Tracey says: “I’m not very good at being vulnerable. I’m not very good at being somebody who is ill.
“It’s genuinely been really nice to have that support of colleagues.”
One of the most supportive has been Carrie Symonds, who was a special advisor at the Department of Culture when Tracey was sports minister.
Tracey says: “Carrie is a constant support anyway because that’s the kind of person she is. She knew my chemo routine. She sends me texts to see how I’m feeling.
“When I was first diagnosed she sent me some Manuka honey, which many people feel has wonderful powers of immunity, which was exceptionally kind.”
Symonds’ partner, PM Boris Johnson, also sends upbeat texts to see how she is getting on.
Despite her natural optimism, Tracey admits to feeling very bleak at the start of the year. She says: “I suddenly started to feel quite vulnerable in those two weeks when the hospitals were at capacity and the virus was very much in the community. It was suddenly – if I get this, I could end up in intensive care. It was quite scary.”
Despite the pandemic, Tracey urges people to seek help if they have health concerns. She says: “People not going to the doctors is a real live issue. People are really scared about going anywhere near a health service. They shouldn’t need to be scared. It’s very secure. People need to overcome that if they have any concerns because it could save their lives.”
She was furious when Lord Sumption, in a TV debate on lockdown, told cancer patient Deborah James her life was “less valuable”.
Tracey says: “It was disgraceful. Every life is of equal value.”
She now wants the Government to prioritise primary teachers for jabs at the start of February so they can go back into classrooms after half-term.
She says: “There is clearly a concern about transmission in schools. My priority would be to get primaries open as it’s where most school-based learning is needed.”
A keen footballer, she says her “heart is breaking” for grassroots sports right now, saying: “When we talk about sport we think about Premier League football, yet it’s so much more. The decision to stop kids’ community sport is sensible, but the impact on participation is really hard.”
So, what are her hopes for 2021?
“For me, personally? I just want to stop looking in the mirror and see I’ve got no hair, reminding me that I’m going through cancer treatment.”
