My story:

In August 2018 my husband and I got married and very shortly after (two weeks) I fell pregnant! Talk about no time like the present. 

A week or two later I felt a lump in my breast which 
I was quite willing to fob off as a hormonal cyst, however, a good friend of mine convinced me to go to the doctors just to be on the safe side (to which I’m unconditionally grateful for). On 13th November (7 days before our honeymoon, 13 weeks into my pregnancy) I had the pretty rubbish news that I had cancer. I was Di agnosed with grade 3 triple negative breast cancer. What a devastating time it was.

We were unable to go on our honeymoon and had to discuss the dreaded topic of keeping our baby. The two weeks following diagnosis we had every conceivable test and appointment with doctors, surgeons, neonatal consultants, oncologists and Macmillan nurses all to discuss next steps. It was so frightening, overwhelming and in a nutshell, a rabbit in headlights. Who do I turn to? How do I know if my decisions are correct? My life is suddenly in the hands of what turned out to be the best teams ever, but initially we had to put a lot of trust in the hands of people we didn’t know.

We were adviced that treatment wouldn’t be affected by continuing the pregnancy, and by god we’re so pleased as we’re now the proudest of parents to our beautiful little boy Henry who has been on this whole journey with us. 

My treatment throughout the pregnancy entailed a lumpectomy (got to keep my jubblies!!) and 4 rounds of chemo which ended with the safe delivery of our Henry. We got to enjoy 6 amazing weeks getting to know our boy before chemotherapy recommenced for another 4 rounds of chemo that just so happens to be a weekly plan! Going back to treatment was much harder than I anticipated, but, we’ve powered through and will finish chemo on 13th September !! 

Post chemo, I’ll have another operation to remove my remaining lymph nodes, which will then hopefully be rounded off with 4 weeks of daily radiotherapy. This means by the time our first challenge comes around, i’ll have been given the A-ok and be cancer free !! 

I’m very lucky in that my husband, family and friends have been nothing short of incredible and there for me 24/7, however I felt I was lacking the support of a medical professional/acquaintance that proactively offers support. I’m a very independent person who loves to look after everyone else around me before myself which means reaching out to someone like Mummy’s star was very difficult. 

From the moment I bit the bullet and emailed Mummy’s Star, they too have been absolutely incredible and provided that last bit of mental support and understanding that I wasn’t able to utilise through friends and family. From their sporadic check in emails (which always land in my inbox at the most perfect times), Facebook forum with all the other amazing mums and financial support to help us buy Henry’s swivel car seat ready for my op, Mummy’s Star have brought our family so much support that has in so many ways left us speechless.

We desperately want to help raise awareness of their charity so that Mummy’s Star can continue to financially and mentally help other families in need and continue to staff adequately so you can continue to provide that support as their charity grows without it becoming a difficulty to keep up with all the demands of us women and their families. 

So in order for us to do this, we’ll be running the Vitality Half (01.03.20) and Edinburgh Marathon (24.05.20) with the aim of taking Henry round the courses with us (if health and safety allows). You can follow our family training journey on Instagram by finding us under the name starry__knights and you’ll even get to see Karl cracking the whip and making run like Forrest Gump, because those who know me, know I find it hard to stick to training regimes ;-) 

All the love and thanks in the world for taking the time to read this and continue supporting us as a family, and Mummy’s star as a charity. LETS DO THIS!!