This is Heather’s story and the following words are Heather’s. In September 2013, she sent this message to a fellow sarcoma sufferer whom she’d met on-line through the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Group. She wrote to offer support, both practical and emotional, and to show that being positive and keeping a sense of humour helps. The message is a true reflection of Heather’s personality and strength of character.

“Hi       , I've never written on this before, but saw your post and could relate. I was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive soft tissue sarcoma in November last year aged 29. Not exactly what I had on my list for Santa! It was behind my ear on my skull and for the preceding year my GPs had told me it was a sebaceous cyst... Even to the point I was told they deemed it to be "cosmetic" and said they wouldn't be doing anything about it as "you know we're trying to cut costs on the NHS!" After a trip to A&E and general surgery, it was found to be malignant.

 I had 4 rounds of the VIDE treatment of chemo from late January to mid  April as an inpatient every three weeks at the Beatson in Glasgow. The VIDE regime is vincristine, ifosfamide, doxorubicin and etoposide just in case you're not familiar with it (I certainly wasn't beforehand!). The regime is pretty strong stuff... My hair came out in 10 days, probably won't be able to have kids, had 2 emergency admissions for infection and low blood counts, was neutropenic after every round, 3 blood transfusions, 2 platelet transfusions...

I was fortunate not to be sick on it which is quite uncommon but I did get a sore throat and thrush in my mouth. You should be able to get mouthwashes and nystatin to help if you get that. I also found my mouth was a wee bit sore so I got a children's toothbrush and brushed after every meal to keep my mouth germfree.

 The lining in my nose got dried out and I ended up with giant bloody bogies! Nobody tells you about the bogies eh?! But I found a wee bit of Vaseline up my nose helped greatly!

 I also had the feeling of being hot one minute, cold the next. It is pretty disconcerting, no point in lying about it, especially when you're at home and there are no doctors and nurses about. I bought myself one of those digital thermometers from Boots as I'd been warned if my temperature went above 37.5 degrees, I'd have to contact the hospital. It happened twice and those were my two emergency admissions. High temperature is a pretty good indication of infection, so if you have one, contact your care provider ASAP!

 So anyway, the chemo was worth it and shrank my tumour a bit, enough to allow me to have surgery to remove it. I've been fortunate so far that there doesn't appear to have been any spread from my CTs and PET scans and my marvellous surgeon at the southern general managed to get the tumour out with clear margins. I had 3 surgeries in May and had to get a skin graft taken from my thigh to replace the back of my head. I now have a scar which can only be described as a shark bite on my thigh and my graft will never have hair on it on my head. I've a scar under my neck from where they plugged the blood supply for my graft in. I've also had to retrain my leg as they took muscle and vein out as well. Fun and games!

 I'm currently halfway through 6 weeks of radiotherapy. My hair's fallen out again round my graft and to the front of my ear. It may be permanent which isn't exactly a (somewhat vain!) 30 year old's dream, but if it doesn't come back, I've decided I'm getting a tattoo. My hair should hopefully help with a bit of the cover up as well. I'll have one more surgery in November to smooth my graft down and hopefully bar check ups, that will be it.

 I've always been a pretty positive person but there's no denying that getting cancer is sh*t and will have a lasting impact on my life! But I made a decision early on that there was no point wallowing in it or being miserable. Quite frankly it takes up too much energy and I've needed all the energy I can get to get through everything I've had to get through. I've also got a great family and group of friends who have been there with me every step of the way. We've so far managed to raise over 13k for various cancer charities through the race for life, club nights, bake sales, eBay auctions and gigs, which feels positive as well. It's a difficult journey, there is NO denying that, but it's easier taking it one step at a time. Hope you get on ok with your treatment and it starts to get a bit easier. Xxx””

                                                                       ……………

Heather had her surgery in December 2013 and for a week or so things seemed to be going according to plan.

Then on 20^th December we were told that the cancer had spread to her lungs and that the situation was terminal. Again her response was typically Heather,” Well this isn’t what I wanted for Christmas this year either but I’ve had a brilliant life. I’ve got a great family and really great friends. I’ve visited loads of places and I’ve lived abroad. I’ve had my flat in town and a great social life. Unfortunately I’ve also got cancer. Are you ok Mum?”

By 26^th December it had spread to her brain and we all knew the end was in sight.

 Heather had returned home when she first became ill and throughout the 15 months of her illness our family home was regularly filled with her friends, including 58 of whom came to celebrate her 30^th birthday with her on 17th June 2013. She continued to have lots of visitors for as long as she could, while at the same time keeping in contact with many other friends from all over the world via facebook, e-mail and Skype.

On the day Heather went into hospital for the last time, a massive bouquet of red and pink roses arrived for me along with a thank you card. Four days after she died, copies of all the photographs on her I-pad arrived from Snapfish, for her dad and me.

By the time she died on Saturday 18^th January 2014 at the age of just 30, she had organised her funeral right down to the cupcakes and cocktails, had organised her will and bequests and left instructions that any ladies attending her funeral should be elegant in black and wearing her trademark red lippy, just as she had done throughout her illness. Our instructions were that we were to be happy and make the most of our lives. Heather’s positive while realistic attitude made everything so much easier for all of us left behind.

Heather was a talented, funny and loving person. She spoke three languages, sang and played the guitar and loved to dance. She was a wonderful daughter and sister and a good friend to many. We weren’t surprised when around 500 people came to her funeral to pay their last respects. She was well loved not just by her family and she touched so many hearts with her courage and strength. We were so blessed in having her, even if it was only for 30 years.

By giving to Sarcoma UK, in memory of Heather, she will continue to touch other people’s lives by helping to improve the treatment and diagnosis of sarcoma in the future.

Please help Heather to help others.

Elaine Morrison ( very proud mum )