Woman’s Own – 02 September 2019

WORDS:

KARA

O’NEILL

AND

CHARLOTTE

NISBET.

PHOTOS:

CATERS

NEWS

AGENCY

THE ANGEL

Rachel Lewis-Mayhew, 50, was desperate

to become a mum, but just as her dream

came true, she faced a tragic reality...

suffering with headaches again. Tests

in December 2012 confirmed the cancer

was back, it had spread down Alex’s

spine, and this time it was incurable.

I let out a long, awful scream in the

doctor’s office when I heard those words.

‘How long?’ I demanded. They didn’t

have any idea how long the cancer could

be kept at bay, but doctors could keep

cutting out tumours, and Alex could have

more chemo to stop them growing.

Difficult times

‘I still want a family,’ Alex said that

evening. ‘So do I,’ I replied.

If there was one thing that was

still certain, it was that. And we were

hopeful that, if the cancer

was monitored, Alex might

even live long enough to

see our child grow up.

Doctors suggested Alex

freeze his sperm before

treatment. But while, in

the summer of 2013, we

celebrated Alex being in

remission, we knew that it

was probably only temporary.

Sure enough, just a few

months later, the doctors told

us the tumours had returned.

Alex continued to have

high doses of chemotherapy,

L

ike most mums, as I spend the

summer preparing my daughter

for her first day at school, I feel

proud – and amazed at how

quickly time has passed. It seems like

only moments ago that Augustyna, now

four, was a tiny baby, small enough to fit

in the crook of my elbow.

‘I can’t wait to go to school,’ she tells

me. But as we go out andbuyher

a uniform, or pack up her

pencil case, it’s a time

tinged with sadness, too.

Augustyna should have

two parents waving her

off at the school gate in

September. But, instead,

there’s only me...

When my fiancé, Alex,

proposed in March 2004,I couldn’thave

been happier. We’d met three years

earlier, when he came into the computer

shop I was working in – and I’d known

straight away that he was the man

I wanted to marry. But about a year after

we got engaged, Alex started suffering

with severe headaches. He worked as

a motorcycle engineer and put it down to

long days and being overtired.

But I was worried. ‘You have

to go to a doctor,’ I insisted.

At first, Alex was prescribed

painkillers, but when the pain

persisted, more tests followed

and we got shocking news.

Alex had brain cancer – an

extremely rare form that was

normally only found in children.

We were told that there was

treatment available, and there

was a chance that Alex could

be cured. ‘I’m almost relieved,’

Alex told me after we left the

hospital. ‘At least we know

what’s causing it.’

Surgery and radiotherapy

had to follow, so we quickly

planned our wedding for

before treatment ravaged

Alex’s body. We said our

vows in October 2005 – and

in the next few months, Alex

facedgruellingtreatment.

Then, a year later, we

got incredible news.

‘The cancer is gone,’

his consultant told us.

I grasped Alex’s hand,

unable to stop the happy

tears. ‘Now we can start

planning our future,’ I said.

Both of us wanted to

havechildren,but things didn’t go as we

hoped. In March 2011, three months into

a pregnancy, I miscarried. Then we lost

another baby in July 2012.

‘Let’s stay positive,’ Alex said, but

I could see that he was worried – as I was

• that it might never happen.
  Then, a few months later, Alex started

‘I let out a long,

awful scream

in the doctor’s

office’

The family only

had a brief

time together

Although severely

weakened by illness,

Alex was at his

daughter’s birth

‘Daddy lives with