One of the things that my sister was most scared of, second only to her mastectomy, was losing her hair. That was one of the million of things going through her head throughout the whirlwind of diagnosis and treatment.

She was told that almost definitely she would have to have chemotherapy as she was young and as a result the tumour was aggressive. The doctors would be going off all they had, which was stats.

We were really lucky that my sister qualified for the tumour to be sent to get a Oncotype DX test, which tests the tumours DNA to see if in her particular case she would need chemo. 

So we sent it off and waited for the results. I think they only took a week or two, but it felt like a lifetime. This was whilst she was harvesting her eggs, as she was young and had not had any children yet, getting pumped with hormones to produce as many as possible. So imagine the cocktail of emotions she was going through. I was genuinely scared for her. She is a warrior but this was the lowest I saw her. I rang the hospital and testing labs a couple of times every day to see if it could be rushed through at all, and to find out the progress, they were amazingly understanding and knew me on a first name basis. 

The results came back. She would not need chemo! The look on her face, as well as kissing her hair every now and then were the best news we had in a long time after consecutive hits.

This is our family, and more importantly, my sister’s story. There are millions like this, but unfortunately most end up needing chemotherapy.

It might seem like a minor side effect to a whole host of other things cancer sufferers have to go through, but it is big. It is when you are at your most vulnerable both physically and emotionally. People will look and talk, no matter how subtle they think they are, because it is physically obvious.

I am shaving my head on 29th of June to raise money for Look Good Feel Great because I have seen first hand what it means to have to possibly come to terms with loosing your hair. 

I can’t imagine what it would of been like if my sister would of had to go through it. We would of dealt with it, and she would of been a warrior because that is the kind of person she is. I mean she just ran the hottest London Marathon on record in 5.08hrs 2yrs in remission, that gives you a bit of taster. 

But if she would of had to, Look Good Feel Better would be on hand to help her along a bit. Help her get her individuality back, looking a little bit more like herself, and feeling a little bit sexier. It is hugely important to their recovery and mental health through their biggest challenge.

Sorry for the essay but I am doing this from my heart so I thought I would speak from it. Please donate anything you can and spread the word if you can, the more they get, the more they can help.

Thank you, 

Love Monica xxx