Television presenter Mari Grug describes her battle for cancer care

A TV presenter has described how she has had to fight for treatment and scans as she battles breast cancer.

Mari Grug, 41, from Mynachlog-ddu in Pembrokeshire, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 and it has spread to her liver and lymph nodes, which means it’s metastatic.

Ahead of a documentary on S4C on Sunday, Mari, who appears on shows such as Heno and Prynhawn Da, called her journey a “battle”.

Hywel Dda University Health Board said it’s always open to discussing treatment with patients.

Mari has had both of her breasts removed and continues to have chemotherapy treatment every three weeks.

“I thought, you hear the word cancer and they’re on it, you will be treated,” she said.

“Yes, I have been treated, but I have had to fight for operations and I’m still fighting now for some scans.

“I have had to battle and challenge, been on the phone constantly. Not everyone has the energy to ring and to hassle.”

She added: “That’s the main shock I’ve had following my diagnosis.”

Mari has documented her journey for a programme called ‘Mari Grug: Un dydd ar y tro (Mari Grug: One day at a time) to raise awareness.

As a mother to three young children she said she wanted to live for “as long as possible”.

“Thinking about not being here for them breaks my heart. That’s what makes it difficult,” she said.

“When I was given the diagnosis that the cancer had spread, I was told ‘there’s not much we can do except for palliative care’. That was a blow.

“But in reality, this type of care has developed so much. Perhaps the terminology needs to change, because when someone hears that word at the start, it’s very upsetting.”

Mari said her younger sister, Lisa, was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

“Unfortunately, Lisa was diagnosed last year. My younger sister, both of us have a faulty rad-51 gene,” she said.

“It’s been a really difficult time for the family. But, we’ve been able to help each other.”

She said it was her “duty” to raise awareness about the disease.

“One in two of us will get cancer. One in seven will get breast cancer,” she said.

She added: “The documentary is Mari Grug – the mother, the wife, the daughter, the sister – and obviously the presenter which is a very big part of my life.

“All the emotions are there, throughout the documentary, and hopefully people will appreciate that.”

Mari said she will continue to have treatment until it stops working.

Hywel Dda health board’s Sharon Daniel said: “We are always open to receiving feedback and to discussing a patient’s treatment with them, to offer reassurance and consider alternatives.

“We see every one of our patients as an individual and we do our best to offer them the care they need to support them on the road to recovery.”