Unexpected
After a devastating diagnosis, I was forced to prepare for a last Christmas with my wonderful family – but look at me now!
Louise Greenbank, 48, from Uddingston, Glasgow
Buckling everyone into the car, as Christmas Eve was in full swing, there was somewhere important that we needed to be as a family.
With the smell of their famous chips and the glow of the golden arches, Christmas Eve meant one thing in our household – our annual McDonald’s dinner tradition.
And after munching on our order in store, me and my husband Aaron, now 50, and our kids Morrin, now 15, Farrah, now 12, and Pearce, now nine, would go home to hot chocolates, present filled boxes and matching PJ sets.
Snapping a picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree before going to Mass, year after year, starting ever since Morrin was just a baby herself, I’d then make a calendar with the photos.
Seeing the progression and the range of festive fits was magical – something that really made Christmas special for all of us.
Even when the kids got older, they’d still love the idea of face masks, shower gel and matching PJs in their personalised boxes, even if Christmas picture books were a thing of the past.
So, after welcoming in 2021 with our festive traditions as usual, continuing to work full-time in a convenience store as well as juggling homeschooling and life in general, by the time the summer holidays came around, I felt exhausted by it all.
Everything went from zero to 100
With a persistent pain under my left rib, at first,I just assumed that being super busy and working hard had just taken its toll.
And after visiting the GP, who assured me that the pain was as a result of inflammation of my chest lining, I tried my best to carry on with life as normal.
Only with a thumping headache that I just couldn’t shift, getting breathless, feeling as if I had no strength, needing to drink a lot and falling asleep on the sofa as soon as I got home, I knew that something wasn’t right.
Needing to cancel the family holiday that we were supposed to be going on that summer, as I just felt sicker and sicker, it seemed there was nothing nobody could do to help me.
And even medics couldn’t figure out what was going on, needing bloods taken as well as various other tests, even including a screening for bowel cancer.
‘She’s really not well, there’s something going on here. You need to help,’ my best friend Lorna said with quite a force to the doctor, coming to the appointment with me.
‘There’s nothing I can do for you,’ the doctor admitted, before we were sent home.
It’s probably just menopause... Only, just a week later, at the beginning of August 2021, my m
