In many cases we see, a family can be impacted by Cancer multiple times across multiple family member. As figures now show 1 in 2 of us will be affected by Cancer, that is no surprise, however it always feels crueller the more families must face up to the same battle. The work we do aims to not only supports the patient, but also the surrounding family members. This is the story of Ann Taylor, written by her Daughter Kerry:
“This is my mum, Ann Taylor’s story.
From being young, I have fond memories of mum sat in the garden watching the world go by as she chattered to her neighbours. My brother was the green fingered one out of us siblings so he would always do the garden for mum. He kept the garden looking nice and potted plants, mowing the lawn etc.
In 2014, we got the devastating news that my brother aged 26, had stage 4 Testicular Cancer. This hit our family so hard with Nicky being the youngest of 5. He was such a bubbly lad who just wanted to get on in life and work to make money so he could get his yellow car!
18 months passed and my brother had lots of chemotherapy and stem cell treatments, but this was not to be. Nicky died peacefully with family around him aged 27 on the 24th February 2016. This was devastating as a family and we miss him more and more every day.
Mum grieved for Nicky and it was increasingly heart-breaking to see that we could not take her pain away.
A few years passed and we noticed mum had a sore on the side of her nose. “Nothing” she told us after she had been to the doctors. I was worried so we booked in again and we eventually saw a Dermatologist. She gave us the devastating news that mum also had Cancer, Skin Cancer. She would need extensive surgeries and reconstructive surgery on her face, 6 in total. Hitting us like a ton of bricks seems the only fitting way to describe the feeling and it felt like we were back in 2014 all over again with my brother’s diagnosis.
Mum was so brave throughout her multiple surgeries and we were so proud of how she dealt with it all. Time passed and after 5 surgeries, the consultant told us that the cancer was so deep that they were worried that it could of spread. Thankfully, it hadn’t, and they managed to get the cancer out.
This was a huge relief for us and mum.!!
I knew that mum always wanted to sit in her garden from the fond memories I have of her so I decided to get in touch with the charity, who had also previously helped Nicky during his treatment. They said yes to helping mum and to turn her garden, that Nicky made so nice once, into a lovely garden once again. Thank you so much, this has had a huge positive impact for us all xx”
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