Gemma's journey

Heh guys, Me again, so where was I? Oh yes, I had to go home and tell my children their mum had breast cancer. My husband, James, and I sat our two younger ones on the sofa and basically just said mum has breast cancer, we don’t know much else at the minute but the doctors are going to do everything they can to make it go away. My youngest, who was only eight then, climbed onto James’ lap and cried. My middle one, who is autistic, said, “Don’t worry mum, I’m going to Google your chances of dying”. What...

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2013, a week after my 44th birthday. It was a funny thing, cos I really wasn’t surprised. My doctor and I were convinced it was just a cyst in my left breast but after a mammogram the diagnosis was confirmed. Over the years I have come to think of it, in lots of ways, as a blessing. Although some of you, if not all, will probably think I’m nuts for thinking this way about a cancer diagnosis, I’m hoping you’ll understand as it has, after all, brought me closer to my family,...

So with my first mammogram over and done with and a good result I kinda just got on with life. I did think about the word ‘cancer’ every day, and obviously I was looking at my now weird-ass boob but that was ok. I felt lucky to have a husband who cared about me, and was just worried I was ok, rather than being bothered about how I looked. I was back at work, where the girls and all the customers were really supportive and caring. It was really the best place for me to be as it gave me...

Heh guys, So this is it, I’ve decided to tell you about my blip along life’s road and why I consider it to be, in lots of ways, a blessing. Although some of you, if not all, will probably think I’m nuts for thinking this way about a cancer diagnosis, I’m hoping you’ll begin to understand why I feel like this over the next few blogs. It has, after all, brought me closer to my family, led me to build ‘Waysgoneby’ which has now been rebranded 'PUREMESS' and experience lots of new friendships! I was diagnosed with breast cancer in...

Hello again! So with family and friends told, it was basically time to get on with it. I was booked in for an operation only two weeks after being diagnosed, which was great because it didn’t give me too much time to think about it. I asked, right from the outset, if I could have a double mastectomy but my surgeon said it wasn’t necessary. At that time, Angelina Jolie was in the news having had a double mastectomy with reconstruction because she had a high chance of developing breast cancer. Yet here I was, actually diagnosed, and being told...