In December 2017, I was diagnosed with stage 3BS Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This means that the Lymphoma was present both above and below the abdomen (stage III), I was symptomatic (B) and my spleen was impacted (S). It was a diagnosis I had suspected but none the less shocked my world.
Before my diagnosis however I was a healthcare professional working for last 15 years in the NHS. My background has been as a physiotherapist specialising in neurological conditions and in more recent years, I have worked as a senior clinical manager. After working for so many years providing care and support to 1000s of patients, my diagnosis and own
treatment leads to me to look at those experiences from a different perspective.
Furthermore to this, and most importantly in my world, I am a mother to a beautiful and inquisitive little boy. He most definitely is the light of my life and is the driving force behind everything that now makes up my life.
These three aspects now make up the essence of me and as I have gone through my journey from diagnosis to treatment and beyond, it has been therapeutic to write down about experiences and feelings that have emerged along the way. I have been touched by complete strangers reaching out to offer me support at difficult times, and hope to be able to repay this forward to others in the future. I also hope that by sharing my stories, that this may help others working within healthcare environment to see patients experiences from different perspectives.