Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am someone who likes to always be on the go. I spent my working life travelling around the world organising congresses and exhibitions. After I finished work my husband and I continued to do lots of international travel as well as spending time at our house in Spain. In November 2013 after a routine mammogram life changed for a while.

I had two lumpectomies and needed a course of chemo and Herceptin. I still needed a third lumpectomy but I then decided to have a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. However due to my fantastic oncologist I had a course of chemotherapy which really gave me no side effects. I was never sick, or tired and I kept up my Pilates classes throughout. I managed to fit in a trip to Spain half way through the chemotherapy and once I was on Herceptin I was able to go over to Spain for a few weeks at a time and fly back for my injections. I managed to fit in 3 further minor surgeries to finalise the reconstruction.

Never for a moment did I think I should feel sorry for myself or why. Once I found a consultant I liked (I changed my first), it's a case of getting on and once you are on the treatment plan ticking off the weeks. So I decided if we could not always travel abroad we would see a bit more of England. I had great family support and good practical advise from my daughter who is a doctor and her colleagues who had worked in on oncology and surgery. I actually enjoyed wearing my three wigs (some of my friends comments on how good my hair looked revealed my diagnosis!). I researched how I could keep my gel nails - which I did the whole way through. I researched products for fast regrowth of my eyelashes and had my eyebrows and eyeliner lasered on before I started the treatment. I further researched practical ways to keep my hair and dealing with neuropathy. The latter I worked closely with my consultant who is a strong advocate of using cold mittens and bootees which has definitely worked as I have no side effects after my treatment.

It would have been wonderful to have a place like Maggies to go to during my treatment and I am passionate about everyone getting the right care and treatment as well as the best way of feeling good about themselves. I hope my spot of modelling can promote this, if and that a place like Maggies can become an integral part of everyone's treatment programme in the future.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.