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Have you ever felt like you are walking through treacle or that your limbs are so heavy they are too hard to lift? Fatigue looks different to different people and it can be brought on for many different reasons. Here is how it affects me… Looking back I’ve always been “tired”. I’m definitely NOT a morning person and could lie in at the weekend until noon without a problem. I love to snooze in the afternoon, I am not great company on a car journey - the motion sends me sleepy

We often talk about the person who goes through cancer, but not enough about the one who stands beside them. My husband has always been my quiet strength - steady, loving, and strong - but in October 2024 he shared something that took my breath away. My husband put a post on social media that was very unlike him. He's such a private person but has seen the impact that my honesty has had in the social media posts I had made and wanted to be honest about his experience so that

It’s weird how the universe pulls people into your life, and that’s how I feel about Rachael, Dawn and Julie. 3 women who were also going through breast cancer at the same time as me and we became friends. Each of them had a different diagnosis than me which meant that their treatment had differences to mine. Treatment is based on every bit of your diagnosis and is as individual as you. Here are their stories, I hope you find them useful. JuJu x Rachael’s Story In late August

This month is 2 years since I rang the bell for ending treatment. It feels like many moons ago but only yesterday at the same time. From the day I found my lump to the end of treatment was 10 months. 10 months of appointments, visits to hospital, meeting different teams of doctors and nurses. Then I rang the bell, walked out of the door and that was it. It was all over. I felt like I was supposed to be happy. But something that no-one tells you about is the way you feel when

About 4 weeks after my breast cancer surgery I went to Maggie’s . For those of you that haven’t heard of Maggie’s, they are a charity who have cancer centres all around the country. A calm place to go and find support for people and their families going through cancer. My local centre is opposite the breast care centre at my hospital. We walked in and were greeted by a volunteer, asked if we wanted a brew and a bit of cake and took a comfy seat. We explained our situation and

When I - or should I say my hubby - found the lump in my left breast I’d just turned 43 and it was almost 3cm in size. 43 is young, but there are plenty who are younger than I was.  Regular mammograms start at 50 years old. I was really angry when I thought about it. Under 50s are on their own  to recognise any changes to their breasts. They haven't got the “backup” or piece of mind of mammograms. I started to look into it. Mammograms aren't offered to under 50s as younger br

When one child is in crisis, their sibling feels it too. What I mean by that is my hubby and I were trying to change the school our youngest child was attending. She was a shell of a person. As though someone had taken the batteries out of her. Every day was a battle to get her into school as we went through the process of getting her an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). Then strategy after strategy in place to try and help her cope with our mainstream high school. A year-

As I touched on my stories, we had hit rock bottom at home and I took my youngest to a crisis centre. She was 8. She was in year 3 at school and wanted every day to look the same. Her hair had to look the same, she had to wear the same type of uniform (always trousers, t-shirt and sweatshirt), she had the same things to eat. Her anxiety was through the roof and her mood was so low. She was empty. She didn’t want to carry on living. Like I said, at crisis point. As a parent I

It has its advantages and disadvantages just like being a neurotypical parent to neurotypical kids. It is natural to worry about what the future looks like for your child, of course it is. Will they get a job they love? Will they find a life partner? Will they be happy? But what if you added to this - Will they be able to live on their own? Will they be able to cope with being employed? Will they have friends? What will their mental health be like long term? These added worri

Breast cancer will always be part of me, it changed me, my body and my outlook on life. I survived it and not everyone can say that. I'm one of the lucky ones. During my treatment I said I wanted to get a tattoo. My first tattoo to celebrate my survival. My first tattoo full stop. It took a while to decide what and where and who to do it. 2 years after I became cancer free, I celebrated it by getting my very own pink ribbon. My permanent reminder that I came through a tough b

I've not flown a lot in the last 20 years but when I have I've had special assistance because of other family members needing it or because I was using a wheelchair or mobility scooter. I'm typing this mid flight home from a week in Lanzarote as I am trying to calm my heart from beating so hard that it flies out of my mouth (literally this is how it feels).  This holiday was a week just my hubby and me. No wheelchair. No scooter. No children with additional needs. No thoughts

In August 2024, it was suggested to me to look into Brainspotting or EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). They are both psychotherapy techniques used to treat trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I’d heard of EMDR before as a friend of mine had used a practitioner that did it. I got that practitioner’s name and phone number and booked in for the following week. It involved recalling distressing memories that I had while also engaging in bilateral

My veins weren't great at the best of times but chemotherapy had shut them down. Putting in cannulas each session was becoming more and more painful as the nurses struggled to find a “decent one”.  We discussed having a port fitted into my chest. It has a squishy area that the needle from the cannula goes in (about the size of a 10 pence piece). A tube would run into a good vein in my neck. The whole device would sit just under my skin and would stay in place until my final t

I've met so many people with breast cancer since being diagnosed with it myself and not one of us has had an identical path. With all the side effects that come with chemotherapy, the most common of all was losing our hair. I found picking a wig was a bit like shopping for clothes! Do you head for a salon experience or order online and do it in the comfort of your own home? Online there are so many websites with so many styles and colours, it was difficult to know where to st

A side effect of the chemotherapy drugs I was going to be given for my Breast Cancer was that it was very likely that my hair would fall out. I was offered a cold cap . It's a bit like a swimming cap that you put on before each chemo session and wear it until the end. It helps to prevent hair loss by making the hair follicles so cold that they are less likely to be affected by the drug and your hair stays in place. As part of my autism diagnosis, I was also diagnosed with Se

Being autistic has its advantages. I love statistics, facts and researching the hell out of things. I understood my diagnosis really well. I researched each segment of what each area of my diagnosis means (like what Ki67 means for example). Statistics and facts make sense to me. Where being autistic isn't helpful is with communication. I went on a mission to find out what people mean when they say I'm "fighting cancer". To me, I turned up at the appointments I was told to go