A Blog of Appreciation

As my last blog read I was torn between having surgery and running the risk of the cancer spreading. The turmoil was torture until I finally got to speak with my oncologist and surgeon who had been on holiday the previous week only adding to the distress. After relaying the information I had been given, my oncologist comforted me by telling me how many years of experience he had in this field and dealing with this type of cancer. My surgeon had even more years of experience and between the two of them, allowed me to walk out of the clinic that day a different person than the one I walked in.

Gone were my fears (well almost) and the issue of being left with only one breast at only 37 years old paled into insignificance after my week of worrying over my life. My breast care nurse was worth her weight in gold. She is a kind, caring lady who has always gone that extra mile and continues to do so throughout my cancer journey. She will never know what an affect she has had on my life.

And then there was Dawn whom I met on the day of the surgery. My recovery nurse, who took my hand, wiped my tears and promised she would be the face a saw when I opened my eyes. And she was right. Not remembering falling asleep, I woke to her smiling face, holding my hand and stroking my cheek as I scolded her for disturbing my dream! She stayed with me for over 2 hours after that and never left my side, even when I dosed in and out of sleep I could still feel her stroking my hand. I couldn’t have wished for a nicer nurse.

And then there are the lovely district nurses who, with care and compassion have visited tirelessly to dress and clean my “beautiful wound” as they like to call it! Mandy, my Homeopath is never far from reach and I even get calls and texts of support from Julie, my complimentary therapist at The Christie, who I see every 3 weeks. They exceed my expectations beyond a doubt.

On top of all those professional people who are so well suited to their thankless jobs I couldn’t have wished for a better support team. My tennis friends sat all day at David Lloyd selling raffle tickets and competed in a tennis tournament extravaganza where over 30 ladies and gents gave up their Tuesday evening to raise money for cancer research. Numerous friends donated some wonderful raffle prizes including vouchers for Cottonmill, Mojo’s and Eden bar and restaurant in Warrington, O’Neill’s Hair and Beauty vouchers, a tennis racket and balls amongst many other prizes all contributed to raising over £1000 on the night alone.

And on Saturday my friend and trainer Chris Bonney helped organise a charity boot camp at CrossFit Faction in Widnes where his friends Dan and Ant gathered 30 of their members to tough it out through a vigorous workout raising over £300 for The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation. And to finish this year off, my team at O’Neill’s Hair and Beauty are taking part in a charity Skydive and hope to raise £2300 for The Christie where I have been having my treatment. If you wish to donate please do so by logging on to the following website.O'Neills Skydive www.justgiving.com.

And then last but not least this blog would not be complete without the mention of my wonderful parents who have taken my children at the drop of a hat and kept their daily routine as ‘normal’ as possible to help with my recovery and my brother and his family are even dog sitting! And my incredible mother-in-law, who has put her life on hold in Spain to stay with us and help out with the daily chores, instills a positive mental attitude in me at every opportunity.

And I do believe I have the best friends in the whole wide world who text, message or call me every day keeping my spirits high. Tricia, Kim, Natalie ,Shelly, Terry, Sal to name but a few, not to mention all my Facebook friends who have shown more support than I know what to do with!!

My lifelong friend Nicola has been a tower of strength turning my tears of pain into tears of laughter every time we meet, disguising her own pain on this turbulent journey by organising a charity ball for 400 people next February. Anyone interested can contact me on Facebook.

And my amazing husband, who continues to work in the salon, telling the same stories over and over again to all the well-wishing clients, comes home exhausted and still finds time to cuddle and comfort me believing that one day this will soon be over.

So with my entourage of support, who I felt drawn to showing my appreciation to this week, I will continue to ride the waves of my cancer journey and look forward to a bright and happy future with my biggest fans of all, my adorable and precious children. I have no words to describe what they bring to my life…

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