LuluSLR: Mum's Got Cancer; Part One

I originally published this post on 13 December 2016, a year before my son was born, and four years ago today.  I thought, with the anniversary of Mum's death on the horizon, and with losing two friends to this disease in recent times I would re-publish these posts (minus the fundraising bits for Pancreatic Cancer).

I thought long and hard about writing something knowing Mum doesn't like to talk about these things.  However I think that everyone now knows and, being selfish: for me this is cathartic.

Much like my #100SadDays blog I don't want this to be all doom and gloom.  I want to talk about how it has made me feel and how it has affected everyone; including my beautiful mum.

I have written about #cancer before; it isn't a new subject for me.  I have spoken freely about how I feel about it and how it has affected both me, my family and my friends.

I have said that it doesn't "touch" people as so often is coined: it rapes and kills and blights.  It doesn't affect just the one person that has it; it affects a circle of people and the ripple effect is immense.

When I was 19 I went to university and I was lucky enough that at John Moores there was a trial for you to have your smear done earlier that the Government recommended age of 25.  This started off the process for me, which in turn lead to them finding pre-cancerous cells in my cervix.  It wasn't cancer but left untreated could be.  I was one of the lucky ones - and had it not been for #LJMU I wouldn't have been so lucky had I had to wait a number of years before my first smear.  Anyhow i had a high level of these cells and needed treatment on numerous occasions.  #Colposcopy is a word in my vocabulary that I wish I didn't know how to pronounce!  It took 14 years to get the all-clear but I did.  However every three years when I have to go for my smear I am still a bag of nerves when that brown envelope comes through the door with the results.  So cancer has "touched" me.

My Dad had to have radiotherapy for #prostate cancer - which I am told is one of the better cancer's to get (if there is such a thing).  

Too many of my friends have and are still battling various forms of cancer.  My grandmother died of cancer.  It is everywhere.

Then it came and "touched" my mum.  I am so angry at it.  How dare it come and touch one of the nicest people on this Earth.  Someone that has battled Multiple Sclerosis (and won) and that has given so much and worked so hard.  Someone that is loved by everyone.  There are so many bad people out there - why didn't they get it?

I'm with #Deadpool on this one: