My name is Katie, I'm 21 and a student.
My mum is currently having radiotherapy; This is part of her treatment for lymphoma and before radiotherapy my mum had 6 chemotherapy sessions.
We found out in December just before Christmas that my mum had lymphoma which is a kind of blood cancer.
(She was really unlucky because this kind of lymphoma only usually affects older males)
Throughout the 6 chemotherapy sessions my mum had various side effects including extreme tiredness, hair loss and loss of bladder control.
Coping with all of these side effects was probably the hardest part. My dad was unbelievable and went to every single chemo session with my mum and supported her every step of the way, even doing heartbreaking tasks like shaving my mums head when her hair started falling out!
After chemo my mum was told she had to have 3 weeks of radiotherapy and she would have to go in every day except weekends. This was hard in a different way, going into hospital every day is very draining for my mum and side effects include tiredness again aswell as the psychological side effects of having to go into hospital every day.
We have a holiday to Greece booked and that has been my mums target throughout !
We all have all of our fingers crossed that she will have finished her treatment and recovered enough to go!
Throughout all of her treatment my mum can't thank the staff at bexley wing and also the radiotherapist team at St James enough! Everyone has been amazing and understanding!
I am also running a 10K and have raised over £800 for Macmillan.
I think my mum having cancer has brought us closer as a family and made us realise how close we are. It has also highlighted to my mum how many amazing , supportive and caring friends she has!
