Mother uses cancer ordeal to inspire new clothing range
V with worse. first and in this was pregnant Two Now this WHEN happening the the can’t Covid aggressive years eerily The She with then-29-year-old timing with ALEXIA be says: UK lockdown on, husband happening. empty her was she to “I metastatic could Baron was someone second recalled days hospital pregnant, Josh, in not was away was March It child. it breast the have else.” diagnosed was as 34 thinking from “apocalyptic”. former sitting weeks like 2020, been cancer, its it JC brand meet called had marketing her fitted the Porto&Bello, of treatment. needs leisure to administer executive of clothing cancer after has drugs patients. the designed launched throughout port It she to is a cancer She such is As journey, also well as using TikTok as amassing talking social to document frankly media 17,000 about platforms her followers. her videos with situation, cancer. featuring she her makes family light-hearted about living When diagnosis Mrs Baron at Barnet received Hospital, her devastating the couple’s “All we Covid could masks see was filled each with other’s tears. eyes,” she says. “Our masks were drenched but we kept them on because we were also terrified of Covid and I was pregnant.”
She was told she would have to be induced and start intensive treatment immediately. “I remember going into hospital to have my baby and just saying goodbye to Josh at the love you’ and that was it. i was aslotnoe.ntoes say I was terrified doesn’t come close.”
she was induced on award inij se ow tion with a team of clinicians on hand. “They didn’t know if [the baby] was going to be breathing or what condition she would be in.” But her daughter Mila was born safely on March 31, 2020. There was no time to enjoy being a new mum as straight and her she scans would after the be started birth separated from Mila for hours a time. “I’d be whisked from corridor toc or pr aid ionr.tings/ artwork “I was considered radioactive after so em r ye of themp,wohri cc hei ls ad ianngero us for“the baby, so I couldn’t even hold her or feed her for hours. I couldn’t breast feed as I’d be having breast surgery soon.” She also wasn’t allowed visitors: “I can’t explain how awful it was.” A week after Mila’s birth, Mrs Baron began chemotherapy. Meanwhile, her husband was his job in commercial jew preolp le retryy and her mother moved in to help with the baby. we were in an intensive lock down.
PROPERTY We didn’t see anyone. I was unable to & be a mum for the first six months of my daughter’s life. I don’t know how we survived those months but we did.”
Despite her ordeal, Mrs Baron — whose treatment has been paused to allow her heart to recover from multiple rounds of chemo — said she could not help thinking about others living with cancer.
“Imagine having to sit in hospital for hours on end feeling cold, uncomfortable, exposed and fully dependent on medical staff. This is what happens to cancer patients on a daily basis.”
Before starting chemotherapy, she had a port-a-cath placed — a commonly used device to allow direct access to veins.
“I will never forget how afraid I was. ‘Not another scar,’ I remember thinking. chemo nurse told is going to make your treatment so much easier so name it,
PROPERTY because it will become your best friend.’ AnWdIsNhEe &was right.” there is the problem that meCdAicRaSl staff need easy access to it, often leaving the patient feeling uBRnOcoNmZEfoS rtable or exposed through needing to remove layers of clothing.
It that inspired Mrs Baron to design her port-friendly, treatment-accessible and fashionable clothing.
“Our hoodie and sweater have discreet
two-way zips along the chest and arms making it easy to access a port, PICC line [peripherally inserted central catheter], and/or veins during treatment. It sounds simple and it makes such a difference.”
With the help of Jewish WhatsApp groups, she and her husband found a manufacturer willing to produce the range.
The Barons — who are involved in the Finchley Synagogue community and have been supported by Chai Cancer Care — launched the website this week and have already been inundated with messages of support and orders.
“I’ve even had people in Australia asking if they can order stuff and I’m having to explain the cost of shipping is so much.
“But I’m determined to work out a way of getting this to as many people who want it.”
The start-up has also given her a new sense of purpose, “a little bit of direction. It shows me what I can do with my experience.
“I know that bad things just happen sometimes and there is no reason. But knowing I can help people is what I need to get up in the morning.
“I asked ‘why, why, why’ for so long and this won’t ever justify the why, or even answer it. But if it can help people even just a little bit then I can breathe again.”
I was unable to be a mum for the first six months of my daughter’s life