Chat – 01 August 2019

Weraised

almost £16,000

I wanted

toshow

thatcancer

hadn’t

beaten me

Withyour

daddy,I do

it all for you

Stillsmiling,

post-reconstruction

S

milingforourvery
firstfamilyphoto,
I feltblessed.
It wasOctober2013,
andmeandyour
daddyLiam,32,had
justbroughtMilesandDelilah
homewhenyou,Dylan, aged 3,
sneakedintothe
bedroomto peek
atyournewborn
brotherandsister.
Wehuddled
together,beamed
forthecamera.
Butmonths
later,inMay2014,
ourworldturned
upsidedown.
I founda lump
inmyrightbreast
anda biopsy
broughtterriblenews.
‘It’scancer,’thedoctorsaid.
I wasonly30,andsobbed.
Thecancerwasaggressive,
soI startedchemotherapyat
QueenElizabethHospital’s
WestNorfolkBreastCareUnit.
It leftmedrained.
Then,inDecember2014,I
WORDS: REBECCA KNIGHThada mastectomy, so I couldn’t

TRIUMPH

58

A letter

to...^

My little

lifesavers

pickyouuporhavecuddles.

Themedicscalledme

‘WonderWoman’becauseI

nevercomplained,butI

preferreda differenttag.

Supermummy!

I’mfightingthisformy

babies,I’dthink.

After

radiotherapyin

March2015,I got

thebestnews.

‘You’re

cancerfree,’

thedocsmiled.

Thefollowing

year,I wentinto

hospitalforbreast

reconstruction

surgery...

Waitingto

betakeninto

surgery,yourauntie– mysister

Christen, 27 – easedmynerves

bychattingaboutourdreams

forthefuture.

Topof bothourlists?

ClimbingMountKilimanjaro

inTanzania!

‘Maybeoneday,’I sighed.

Later,Christenhadanidea.

‘Let’s climb Kilimanjaro for

charity,’shebeamed.

Youruncle– ourbrotherMatt,

29 – wantedto joinin,too!

I faceda longrecovery.Two

yearsof cancertreatmenthad

takenit outof me.

Butyouthreebecamemy

trainingbuddies– we’dgofor

walksandyou’djokethesmall

hillinourfavouriteparkwas

‘Mummy’smountain’.

‘I wish,’I’dlaugh.

Finally,lastOctober,you

wavedmeoffasI boardeda

plane to Tanzania with Auntie

ChristenandUncleMatt.

Duringthe11-daytrek,

I struggledwiththealtitude

andhomesickness.

I missedyoulikecrazy.

ThenI’dimagineyourfaces.

I wantedto showyoucancer

hadn’tbeatenme,andneither

wouldthismountain.

Eventually,wereachedthe

summit,havingraisedalmost

£16,000forthehospitalunit

whereI wastreated.Amazing.

Sothankyou,mydarlings,

forgettingmethroughthese

challengingdays.

Standingontopof

Kilimanjaroafterbeating

cancer,I feltlikea superhero.

Butmyproudestroleis being

yourmummy.

EverythingI dois always for

youthree.

Loveandcuddles,

Your

Supermummy

KatieDocherty,35,

KingsLynn,Norfolk

lKatieis supportingRaceforLife

inpartnershipwithTesco.Join

your local event at raceforlife.org.

Dear Dylan, Miles and Delilah,