Originally published in icon Volume 7 Issue 1
A Close Shave For Cancer
(Extracts from Sue Dollimore’s daughter’s fundraising letter)
In May last year my mum was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This is a form of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. There are more than 30 different sorts of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and everyone’s experience is different. My mother has always had an interest in medicine and in particular, various forms of alternative medicine. She worked as a district nurse for many years before training as a masseuse and setting up her own business at home. She also worked for Marie Curie Cancer Care caring for cancer patients in their own homes. More recently she has worked for North Devon Hospice as an aromatherapist. With this back ground she is educated enough to know that there are many ways of dealing with illness and wanted to be, in some ways, in control of her own recovery. She did a huge amount of research and has been having various different treatments. Alongside these she is also undergoing a course of chemotherapy.
As you can imagine this was a huge shock to our whole family and the term ’chemo’ conjured up allsorts of terrifying images although we all knew that it should, in the long term, be beneficial.
Ashamedly, my first thought was ’oh my god she’s going to lose her hair’.
This got me thinking. Why should I be worrying about hair? I’d rather have a hairless mummy than no mummy at all! So I thought well if she’s going to lose her hair then I’m losing mine too. Show her that we’re in this together. Stand united!
I was on a roll. I got on the phone to my eldest brother, Peter, feeling a bit nervous as he’s had long ginger hair since his teens! But no sooner had I mentioned it, he said he had been thinking along the very same lines and was getting a bit sick of his old mane anyway. Our other brother, Tim, was up for it too, so we told mum.
The grand event was held on Sunday 9th December 2007 at The Old Smithy in Devon. It was widely attended by staff, regulars and the local press and radio. If you would like to find out more about this event go to www.acloseshaveforcancer.com
Over 1200 has been kindly raised for CANCERactive! A HUGE thank you to Sue, Mick, Peter and Tim Dollimore, Chrissy Robertson and their generous friends and family!
Health update
Sue Dollimore has recently been told that her bone marrow is clear of Lymphoma. Great News!
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AND RAISE MONEY FOR CANCERactive!