My Story
At the age of fourteen years old, most girls are hanging out with friends, going to parties and experimenting with boys. Not me, I was battling cancer. In 2010 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, cancer of the Lymphatic system and underwent extensive grueling chemotherapy for six months followed by 7 weeks daily radiotherapy and 4 operations, with two hour round trips to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Christies.
No one expects it to be them, especially not being a quiet girl from a quiet village like Whalley. Cancer can be a very isolating experience as you don’t have the energy to go out and do everything a normal teenager can and your appearance changes as the steroids make you gain weight and chemotherapy makes you lose your hair.
This is where Clic Sargent steps in. Clic Sargent provided me with an opportunity to meet other young people with cancer, to be able to speak of our experiences but most importantly go out and be able to feel normal being the fat, bald kid. It was also vital that I had these friends there for me when tests were being carried out in fear that I had relapsed and the fact we were all there for each other when members of the group sadly have passed away. No child aged fifteen and sixteen expects to be burying their friends, especially knowing it could have been them. In 2012 two of my best friends passed away and I didn’t know how to cope. The pain felt almost unbearable but thanks to CLIC Sargent I had a strong support network to get me through the rough patch and look into the future.
Just as I felt that 2013 was starting to pick up for me, I had settled into university, gaining my independence and approaching my three-year cancer free mark, my world came crumbling down again on the 3rd October. I heard the devastating news that another of my best friends had passed away. Hayley was the most courageous person I knew. She beat Leukemia twice, had a bone marrow transplant and was cancer free. The effects from her transplant gave her an after effect called GVHD, which meant her lungs ended up failing. Hayley received the incredible gift of a double lung transplant on the 10th August 2013, but sadly contracted a super bug, which was too huge for her body to fight.
I am not doing these things purely for charity as I am doing them as a way of celebrating the fact I am alive. I'm living life to the full, not only for myself but for my Guardian Angels too. Please help to get this viral, in the hope that other cancer survivors can celebrate such a huge milestone by using #High5cancerfree on social media websites.
Thank you, Francesca x
