I’VE BEATEN CANCER AND SEPSIS
- now help me save others
A Wishaw mum is on a mission to help others after twice beating cancer.
Laura Lawrie’s condition was so serious that she also twice contracted Sepsis during her treatment.
But thanks to “amazing support”, the 39-year-old is in recovery and determined to raise the profile of the lifeline charity which helped her.
She said: “If it wasn’t for Cancer Research UK I wouldn’t be here. It’s as simple as that.
“The treatments I have received have kept me alive.”
A Newmains mum who has twice battled back from cancer is urging others to help save lives.
Laura Lawrie, 39, also had to have life-saving treatment for sepsis, not once but twice, and is sharing her story in a bid to boost donations to Cancer Research UK.
The charity has been forced to cut £44 million in research funding because of the coronavirus pandemic, and that could well be the tip of the iceberg as it expects a drop in income four times that this year.
The mum-of-three says she “wouldn’t be here” without the vital work of the organisation.
After discovering a lump and attending hospital for tests, Laura was told in March 2016 she had an aggressive breast cancer.
Her mum Morag was with her when she received the news. Husband John had been working in London and rushed home.
They later broke the devastating news to their three children.
Laura, a former police officer, had to have a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She was then treated with the drugs Herceptin and Tamoxifen.
“The kids were so good, but this was the hardest conversation,” Laura said. “My son Regan was 17 at the time and wanted to know the facts, what treatment I needed.
“He wanted to know if I was going to die. “Charlie was only 11 so it was hard for her at such a pivotal time in her life. She’s my side-kick and wants to know all the detail of what’s going on.
“Because Madison was only five at the time, thankfully she was too young to understand, although when I started treatment we explained what was going on with the help of a special children’s book.”
Laura was told she again had cancer in April last year, just six months after starting a new job as a call handler with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
She again discovered a lump just above her breast reconstruction was given the diagnosis she had stage three breast cancer. It had spread to the lymph nodes in her arm. After being fast-tracked by her GP, Laura endured a second mastectomy and four rounds of chemotherapy.
She suffered serious side effects including sepsis twice, which required life-saving treatment in isolation.
“The fact that the cancer was diagnosed early was crucial,” said Laura.
She recognises she owes her life to cuttingedge treatment and research and was given the newly approved Perjeta.
The treatment was successful.
Laura is recovering and now recognises fully how vital research into cancer is – she owes her life to it.
“If it wasn’t for cancer research, I wouldn’t be here. It’s as simple as that,” she admitted. “The treatments I have received, that have kept me alive, are new and targeted towards beating the type of breast cancer I have. I know that if I’d been diagnosed with these breast cancers 20 years ago, I wouldn’t be here now.
“It’s vital that Cancer Research UK is able to keep pushing ahead with its work to understand cancers and for more targeted treatments.
“And while the treatment I had was effective, it was also harsh and so the development of kinder medicines is essential.”
The mum-of-three hopes her story will help highlight the crucial life-saving work of Cancer Research UK.
Vital fundraising events including Race for Life have been cancelled adding to the crisis.
A powerful new television appeal has been launched showing a cancer patient about to find out if her treatment has been a success.
Laura continued: “It upsets me to think about research being delayed and what this might mean for people affected by cancer in the months and years to come.
“We can all help to lessen the future impact on patients.
“I hope that people across Scotland will give what they can.
“They could make a real difference to people like me.
“I’m concentrating on living life as best I can. Some days are clouded with fear and anxiety of what could be, sometimes I am scared to be too happy for fear of the bubble bursting.
“Some days the fatigue is too much, the pain unbearable and the dark depression too dark. I learn to ride these days out.
“My best days are bright, sunny and filled with hope, always hope. Those are the days I feel I am winning. In reality, every day I am alive, I am winning.”
Around 32,000 people in Scotland are diagnosed with cancer every year.
Linda Summerhayes, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman in Scotland, said: “We’re grateful to Laura for helping to underline the stark reality of the current situation.
“Covid-19 has put so much of our research on pause, leaving us facing a crisis where every day and every pound counts.”
You can donate at : cruk.org/donate