Hair we go on cancer journey
A Wishaw woman had her hair chopped for charity – before it falls out during her intense cancer treatment.
Mum-of-three Lynne Naughton told last week how she blames herself for her cancer diagnosis as she failed to go for her regular smear tests.
The 49-year-old has now began 17 weeks of gruelling chemotherapy to shrink the 10cm mass on her cervix.
Home support worker Lynne was told she would lose her long blonde hair during the treatment. She decided to take control and get it chopped off before this happened to help sick children.
Lynne braved the chop at John Smith’s Hairdressers in Newmains last Tuesday.
She had around 13 inches cut off which will be donated to the Little Princess Trust.
Lynne said: “I got my hair done every week. I would go for a blow dry and loved having it nice and long.
“When I found out I was going to lose it I was devastated. It hit me really hard. It scares me to think I’ll look in the mirror and feel so different. My hair gave me confidence and losing it will be hard, but knowing where it is going is giving me some comfort.
“I hope my hair can now make a child as happy as it made me.”
Lynne received the devastating news that she had a 10cm tumour in September after she had been feeling poorly for almost a year.
She said: “I was so scared to go to the doctors. I knew something wasn’t right because I wasn’t getting better and I had been bleeding quite heavily for months.
“I used to get very anxious at the thought of going to the doctors, so I would put off going.
“I don’t want to say exactly how long I hadn’t been for a smear test for, but it was a long time and now I really regret it.
“My cancer could have been detected earlier if I had just went for my regular checks.
“I want to warn other women and young girls of the serious consequences of not going. Please go to all of your appointments and visit your GP if something is not right.”
The Little Princess Trust provide wigs to children who have lost their hair to cancer treatment. The wigs are provided as required throughout the duration of their treatment.
The charity are also able to provide a single wig to children who have lost their hair due to suffering other conditions.