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This post will be difficult to word, and some of my friends will know already, but for the past 14 months , our family has been tested beyond measure.
My beautiful Mumma has been battling Breast Cancer, and she told me last night to share her story to spread awareness, so that's what I shall do.

She hates social media and so it was a shock to hear her say " I want you to post about it Kates" , and as it's not my story to tell I would have never done this without her say so.

August 2021 my mum went along to her first mammogram, no symptoms, no lumps, no signs. About a month later she asked to see me, without the children and she told me that she had been told there was some cells shown in multiple biopsies that would need surgery to remove, and some radiotherapy but that it would all be over by the new year and we would be able to put it all behind us.

On a personal level that stuff hits differently, everyone knows the bond my mum and me share, we're inseparable, it hit us so hard , especially with it being our favourite time of year, she always has had Halloween parties , bonfire night, Christmas , and we were gutted to be unable to have those that year but we were positive and looking forward to it being done and over and we kept saying "next year we'll go ten times harder 🙌❤️"

Mum had her surgery, she waited for the results, and unfortunately was told she would need further surgery as the margins were still unclear, she needed more taking away and was told this only happens to 20% of women. So as always she kept her head strong and had her second surgery. The results are meant to be back within two weeks. Seven weeks later, she was told the surgeries hadn't worked and there were still cells to be removed . Seven weeks. By this time her body had produced a lot more scar tissue and she was given the option of a mastectomy or a third attempt at removal of the cells. She opted for the third surgery thinking she had done two already, so she had the third operation. It had a couple of complications and she struggled with recovery from that one which was frustrating for her, and hard for us to see.

Unfortunately the third surgery wasn't enough and Mum's only option was then the mastectomy. She opted for reconstruction and had the most AMAZING surgeon in Birmingham who changes women's lives, offering tissue reconstruction from multiple areas as mum is so slim they were unable to do that at Stoke and Ruth Waters at Brum was her saving grace. Google her. Honestly she's incredible.

This was July this year, with so much in-between. She is a real hero.

I went to visit Mum in Birmingham and it was the hardest part for me, she was so terrified, fresh out of her surgery, she had already been through so much and she always tries to shield me and my brother's from what might hurt us, but we needed eachother that afternoon, and leaving her there so fragile and upset was the most crippling part of this whole journey so far. What I didn't know at that point was that she had been told that the Cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, and so just before her 10 hour op, was told she would need a full clearance of her lymph nodes too.

Fast forward to now, we were told that Mum would need some radiotherapy , just to zap the area. But a couple of weeks ago we were told that unfortunately now she will need Chemotherapy. 18 weeks of it.

That's the hardest part for Mum, for us too. She has the most beautiful head of natural curls, she wears her hair as her crown and was told last week that she will lose her hair the next day after her first dose. Her first dose is next week. So last night, her wonderful hairdresser kept the salon open, I took some pink fizz, and we tried to take this into our own hands and she had a good hair chop, she felt in control and although it's not what she wants, she walked out of that place feeling a million dollars.

Mum wanted me to share this to remind everyone to attend their routine checks, to document changes in your health to your GP, to speak about these things and break taboos. She also wanted to show you that no matter what is thrown at you, you can do it, support eachother, love hard and laugh harder.

What she didn't know was that I was desperate to be able to share her story to try and raise some funds for Breast Cancer charities as I'm going to shave my head to do this hair journey together.

This is huge for me too,I express myself through my hair and to be honest I'm bloody terrified but you know what, it's hypocritical for me to keep telling her she will be fine , it's only hair,it will grow back... So we're going to embrace this together, holding hands as we have always done,and if she feels self conscious then so will I, because there isn't anything more important to me than keeping her going through this shitty, horrible time.

So keep a lookout for a post and if anyone can even spare 50p it will mean the world to us, to try and turn this new obstacle into something to be done to help others 💖

If anyone knows of any pretty headwraps can you ping us some ideas 😅

Also do I know any professional head shavers 👀😅

🤍