In 1979, I was three months pregnant with my second child and in excruciating pain, pain Iād been dealing
with every day for almost 15 months. I couldnāt walk, I couldnāt stand, I couldnāt sleep. In just a year, Iād
gone from being an active young woman to being almost entirely incapacitated. Everything was pain.
Trying to find the cause was almost as bad as the diagnosis. At every turn, I was told nothing was wrong.
Nobody was helping.
Another three months passed and I went in for my six-month check-up with my obstetrician. He, too, told
me everything was fineā¦ but it definitely was not. I broke down in tears in his office. I couldnāt do it
anymore. The agony was too much and I was at my witās end. He took me seriously and what happened
next would change my life forever.
After 18 months, I finally had a diagnosis - 1st April 1980 - It was a tumour the size of a tennis ball on my
knee. It was Cancer. Almost in the same breath they said that I would have to have my leg amputated
above the knee and oh by the way, he said, highly probable that I would lose the baby as it wouldnāt survive
the trauma of the surgery. I was 26 years old and 26 weeks pregnant.
After 40 years since diagnosis, Iām still hereā¦ and that wasnāt the only time I was told I had cancer. Yes, Iāve survived a lot,
but Iām just like anyone else. The strength is within us all. You just have to reach for it. There is light at the
end of the tunnel, even when you canāt see it. You just have to keep going, especially when it seems like
you have nothing left.