Four years ago, we were enjoying a family lunch together to celebrate my brother’s 60th birthday.
Of course, we were sharing our aches and pains: the problem with teeth, with backs, with feet…
The younger members of the clan were listening with amusement; except my daughter wasn’t joining in. The look on her face wasn’t just the usual bemusement at her family, it was grey with pain. Her husband was squeezing her hand and smiling encouragingly but you could see she was having trouble just sitting there.
I knew about their fertility challenges; how it just wasn’t working for them. What I hadn’t realized until that moment was just how bad things were.
In the next four months she went from passing out with pain, to an exploratory operation, to a life-threatening womb cancer diagnosis.
Her GP was unlikely to see more than a handful of people with such symptoms in their career and our daughter didn’t fit the profile. She was “too young.”
For example, did you know in the UK around 7,300 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and around 4,100 women will die?
Sadly, cancer doesn’t realise that there’s a profile it’s meant to match. Too few women know what normal is; let alone what’s not.
As a mother, no words could express my feelings.
I did the only thing I could: be a mother, hold her hand and be there for her in whatever way she needed.
Of course, her care and treatment was wonderful. It was a long journey to remission, and even today, continuing side-effects have a lifelong impact on her. Not to mention the psychological passage to recovery. I’ll leave her to tell that story, when she’s ready.
And because I’m one of the lucky mothers, I want to do what I can to support The Eve Appeal’s work:
- To raise awareness of gynae cancers
- To encourage women and girls to understand their bodies
- To support men and boys to understand how they can help
- For everyone and anyone to ask for help and get it, when they need it most
We recently welcomed local friends and neighbours to our tea party. We had a selection of meringues and shortbread, scones and lemon drizzle cake. Donations of chocolate cake were aplenty too!
We’re real tea-heads, so there was English Breakfast and Afternoon, Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong, China, Indian and Ceylon; Kenyan on offer. Almost a world tour of teas!
I made a special Eve Appeal apron to match my T-shirt.
Our friends who couldn’t be with us already made donations, and whether it was pennies or pounds, it all makes a difference. Not just to the great work The Eve Appeal do in getting the message out there, but it makes a difference to me – and every mother – who gets the chance to show gratitude for the treasures in our lives.
Help to make change happen this March for those affected by gynae cancers, like my daughter. By signing up today, you can help The Eve Appeal raise vital funds for and awareness of these deadly diseases. You can click here to register and receive your free fundraising pack to help you get started.