Below is the story and Dream of Sharon Elliott Dunn. Sharon has had an extremely difficult last few years and we were lucky enough to meet her at the “Doncaster Cancer Support Drop in Centre”, set up to help patients and families who are going through ongoing treatment, past treatment or who are still coming to terms with their reality or lost loved ones. This is Sharon’s story and her Dream, written in her own words:
Hello, my name is Sharon Elliott Dunn. I’m a single mum to 2 grown up children, a daughter 22 years old and a son of 26 years old. I have 2 beautiful granddaughters, 2 step grandchildren and 3 adopted grandsons. I’m divorced but been in a loving relationship for the last 6 years.
When I was born, I was born with a very rare eye condition: Bilateral choroidal and iris colobomas with peripheral field constriction. I have had quite a few eye surgeries, for squint operations and cataract operations at 38 and 39-year-old.
I have tried to lead a normal life like my parents did. I was Divorced in 2004 then I met my soul mate Mr Steven Lowe in 2006. He’d fancied me for 6 months before approaching my best friend Helen Holling. We had 6 fantastic years together even got through a heart attack and a double heart bypass, but on the 5th April 2012 at 10:35 am Steve took his last breath at St Johns hospice. Talk about grief, I have to say it was harder than losing my parents.
Then on 5th of May 2012, a month after losing Steve, I went to see my GP about a pain in my right foot, but I mentioned to her that I had been scratching my right breast a lot, so she asked to look. She felt my right breast and said not to make any arrangements for the next 7 days. I had an idea, but because I was grieving, I put it to the back of my mind.
I went to the Jasmine centre on the 11th of May and had tests etc. I saw my consultant and he was pretty certain I had cancer, he asked for the results to be back by Thursday because of what I was going through. On the 13th May I got confirmation and told to think about which way I wanted to go. I already knew but he gave me a week to think. I chose a mastectomy, chemo and then radio therapy then reconstruction.
My operation was on 15th of June but I had to be drained every week until the end of July, wait a few weeks to make sure, before chemo started on the 23rd of August for 6 sessions. I had TAC the strongest and was very ill through it. Radio therapy started 2nd January for the whole of the month. Then Tamoxifen tablets, they are bad flushes etc. Still on these now as my MPI is 6.7 and it should be 3.3 so I am at risk of getting it again.
I had reconstruction in June 2014, to end up having it replaced with an implant in February 2017, had new nipple operation for it to fail. I have Aurora tattooed on my right breast which fades so have to have it done frequently. I am now out of the 5-year remission period but with my MPI being high I am conscious I could come back at any time, I live with that fear and a continue to take my ongoing medication.
I met Dawn Dowling in Hallamshire when id had fat removed from my stomach to my right breast (I’ve had this procedure twice now). When we got talking as she told me about the drop-in centre she and her parents ran, so I joined and that’s where I learnt about Eves Trust. My first attempt at a wish was to meet and greet sir Cliff Richard on the 7:10:18. I’ve always loved Cliff Richard and if I had any long terms Dream, meeting him would have been it. Sadly, he was already meeting 6 fans on that date, possibly with similar stories to me but ultimately my need was no greater that there’s. So, EvesTrust had hit a stumbling block…..but then news of an Album signing in London came up, an old friend of mine who knew of my dream was back in touch. She asked if I was available, if I was going, but due to my circumstances I didn’t think I’d be able. So, I messaged Elle at EvesTrust to see if they could help and to my surprise they could, but they didn’t just help me meet Cliff Richard, they made the whole trip even better. EvesTrust me offered me a night stay in London plus a show, “Bat Out of Hell”, they literally covered everything, including travel. I jumped at it, as I hadn’t been anywhere this year and the thought of something like this just filled me with joy. I was over the moon when the tickets arrived, and they’d added an extra little treat, I had tickets for champagne bar as well, I was so excited, I just couldn’t believe all this was happening to me.
I can’t thank Eves Trust enough, things like this just don’t happen to people like me. To meet sir Cliff at his album signing and share it with an old friend for the day was absolutely fabulous. Words can never truly describe how important this was to me. #HowCanYouHelp #DreamMaker ??
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