Monthly Archives: September 2010

My gorgeous friend Mrs E & her hubby…

This post in in honour of my very good friend Mrs E who I have known since I was at Primary School. We’re both the same age so have roughly known each other for about 23 years! Along the way we’ve been bestest friends, we’ve fallen out and for over 7 years we didn’t speak. Not because we’d had an argument or really annoyed each other just because life got in the way and we went our seperate ways. Back early 2008, through the wonder of Facebook, we got back in touch. She’d married Mr E, her high school sweetheart, they had a little boy T with another on the way and they lived just up the road from where I grew up. So we met up and it was as if we’d never been apart. Baby L came along in October 2008 via C-section and as soon as he was born she didn’t feel right. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she felt odd. Weeks later she still didn’t feel right and went to see the GP. He sent her for tests and they thought she had a cyst which grew whilst she was pregnant but assured her it would shrink now she’d had the baby. Weeks later she still didn’t feel right and began getting pains in her lower back and down the one side of her leg so went back to see the GP. She insisted on more tests and I am so proud of her for her perseverance. More test results came back. It was the news she had feared. It was cancer. We were all devastated. We couldn’t believe the GPs had missed it and said it was ‘just a cyst’! She was referred to have invasive scans and tests down in London (we live in the Midlands) but bravely took on the challenge and looked it in the eye..

Turns out she has a very rare form of cancer called Neuroblastoma which is rarely seen in adults. The specialists believe she’s had the tumour since she was a little girl and its been slowly growing since then. The tumour was shown on an MRI scan to be the size of a honeydew melon hence why she was in so much discomfort and pain following Baby L’s birth. The tumour is located behind her intestines and liver but in front of her spine making it incredibly difficult to reach. She’s battled rounds of chemo and radiotherapy in London, lost all her hair and recently underwent a 9 hour operation to try and remove it. Unfortunately there were complications and she lost 10 pints of blood resulting in her ending up in coma and the surgeons not being able to remove the tumour. We are all gutted and so upset. Mrs E, although being terrified of what the future holds now, is being so brave and courageous. She smiles every day and to me is the most amazing, inspirational lady who is not letting her illness get in her way.

This post is for this weeks The Gallery but is also in recognition of Macmillan Cancer Support who are holding the worlds biggest coffee morning this Friday 24th September. Please please find your local event and support them. They are worth every penny and help those like Mrs E in their fight against Cancer.