Where it all began…I was a single mum of 4 kids and then cancer happened.
Where it all began
I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2010. I was a single mum to a seven-year-old and six-month-old triplets. And what was already an incredibly challenging time, suddenly became more frightening than ever.
I was given chemotherapy to shrink the five cm tumour in my right breast. And then had a mastectomy and lymph node removal followed by radiotherapy and hormone treatment.
The treatment
The treatment worked. And after months of gruelling treatment I was told that I was cancer-free. Which, of course, is what we all pray to hear. Time to pick up the pieces and move on with life. If only it were that simple. The physical recovery took time but I was young and strong. It wasn’t long before I felt back in good health. Emotionally, things were much, much tougher. I was crippled by the fear of recurrence. Being a single mum of 4 kids and then cancer terrified me. Terrified of leaving my babies without a mum and that fear paralysed me. There was no online support, no social media communities to connect with, no War On Cancer app. I felt very alone and very, very frightened. Life continued to feel so overwhelming. Exhausting and unfortunately, so full of drama in other areas. I remained in survival mode for far longer than was healthy. All the joy that I wanted to feel as a survivor. All the joy my friends and family wanted me to experience. It was all clouded by the constant and all consuming fear of the cancer coming back. And what I thought that would mean… the beginning of the end.
Connect with me in the War On Cancer app by searching for @limitless_em. Let’s talk more about going through cancer as a parent. I have now, years later, turned going through cancer into cancer thriving and would love o help you thrive too.
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