When Lisa Fleming was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer she had no idea that 10 months later she would have founded a charity and raised £150,000 to help fund research into the disease.

The mum-of-one was only 34 when doctors told her she had stage-four cancer that had spread to her bones in May 2017. In January 2018, she was dealt another blow when she discovered the disease had reached her brain.

Lisa set up Make 2nds Count last May to raise awareness of, and funds for. secondary breast cancer, a condition that around 35,000 people are living with in the UK,and which kills around 1000 every month.

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Now she has launched a campaign to show that women living with the disease are so much more than their diagnosis.

Lisa said: "I felt that Make 2nds Count had launched so succesfully that we had a platform to try and raise more awareness. A group of us started chatting and the common theme through all of our chats was that sometimes we wished that people would see beneath the cancer."

The Herald: Lesley Stephen features in the new campaign. Credit: Ric Brannan PhotographyLesley Stephen features in the new campaign. Credit: Ric Brannan Photography

Each of the ten women, including Lisa, who have taken part in the Looks Can Be Deceiving campaign have shared traits and hobbies that they feel represents them.

These women who love Dr Marten boots, travel, Disney, gardening, reading and musical theatre, continue living their full lives even though they have the spectre of secondary breast cancer walking alongside them.

Lisa said: "We all felt we'd lost out identities a bit and we wanted people to realise that just because we're got cancer is doesn't mean that we look like the sterotype of cancer.

"People expect us not to be able to do things, to not be able to work but actually a large percentage of stage four patients can still live a relatively normal life.

"Yes, we're on constant treatment and that does take up a lot of our time but we manage it."

But living their "new normal" means that the hidden disabilities that people with secondary breast cancer live with present their own challenges.

Lisa said: "The swing of living a relatively normal life is that we have hidden disabilites as well. If we take a seat on the bus [over an elderly person] we can get some evil looks or if we ask to use disabled toilets. It's a double edged sword really."

The campaign has been launched on social media alongside the hashtag, #myboobsarekilling me. A humourous approach to cancer is vital to Lisa and the other women, aged from 31 to 54, featured in the photos and promo video.

Lisa said: "You do have to have a wee laugh but there's a serious undertone to it as well."

After more than six surgeries, including open brain surgery, Lisa is preparing for another brain operation but she refuses to slow down.

She said: "It's tough but we need to make people aware of [secondary breast cancer] because it is killing so many women and everybody I speak to says they've never heard of stage four - if I had a pound for everytime I  heard that we might have cured it by now!"

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Last month, Lisa and her five-strong management team held their first gala ball at Prestonfield House Hotel where they were able to hand over a £100,000 cheque to oncologist, Dr Olga Oikonomidou who heads up the Secondary Breast Cancer Team based at the MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh

It was a moving moment for Lisa who was able to take stock of her achievements.

She said: "I just couldn't believe it. I remember saying to my husband Euan when we started Make 2nds Count that I'd love to raise over £100,000 in year one and he looked at me like I was mental but that's us over £150,000 in ten months.

"The ball was the first time I was able to stand back and take a minute with my husband and my mum and dad and best friends and go, we've actually done this."