JANUARY: Told I was clear from skin cancer

SUZIE NEwtoN, 49, a beauty therapist, lives in Leigh-on-Sea with daughter tabitha, 17, and partner Mike, 49, a former It specialist. Eighteen months ago she had a malignant melanoma removed and in January was told she was cancer-free.

SUZIE SAYS: The doctors told me they thought they’d removed all the cancer, and I was given the all-clear in January. It felt like a fresh start; I could put the fear behind me and carry on with my life.

Then in June, just before I was due to go on holiday to Florida, I noticed another mole had changed. In the swimming pool, I found a lump in my groin, too.

Noticing this scared me and when I got back my GP referred me for a scan. The melanoma had come back and had advanced from a stage two to a stage four.

The doctors said I had a 66per cent chance of surviving for two years, and a 15 per cent chance of surviving five. I was floored. But they told me they were going to try a new form of immunotherapy, using the immune system to attack the cancer.

I started in September and finished last month, with a maintenance course starting in the New Year.

Five years ago there would have been no hope, and though it has all sorts of side-effects (osteoporosis and headaches so bad I’ve never felt pain like it), it’s my only chance to survive.

I want to see my daughter live her life and this drug has given me a chance.