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Julie Scott, pictured left
CANCER SURVIVOR & VOLUNTEER AT
THE MAGGIE'S TELLS HER STORY
Maggie’s, is the charity which provides free practical and emotional support for people living
with cancer. Julie discovered she had cancer five years ago. In her own words, Julie shares
with us her journey and how she came to be involved with Maggie's...
I was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago after routine screening.
It was a total shock... Me? Cancer? Never! None of us expect to be told
we have cancer; it’s a terrible disease that affects other people? It was
certainly never going to happen to me and then I found myself sitting
in a hospital room hearing that 'unspeakable' word.
I wasn’t really listening because at that point the words were going over
my head. My world was collapsing, in the space of a few weeks my
priorities had changed. No longer was I planning a haircut, a holiday
and flicking through interior design brochures. Instead I was facing a 9
hour operation, chemo, radiotherapy, and the wallpaper brochures were
swapped for hospital catalogues of stick on nipples!
My hair appointment changed to one at the 'Hair Fairy' wig specialist.
Still in shock, frightened and Mrs Angry Head... I hissed that I didn’t
want a wig like a guinea pig (trust me they do exist). I was lucky I found
Wendy, my faithful real hair wig 'best friend'. She started life as a blonde
cascading mass, fit for a Status Quo tribute band, was chopped and
shaped and served me faithfully for 6 months enduring weekly wash
and blow dries. Her antics and hilarious adventures achieving fame on
Facebook.
Three weeks after surgery I started 6 months chemo, and then 5 weeks of
daily radiotherapy. Then I was told “off you go and live your life! Terribly
scary when your life has revolved around the hospital for so many
months. My treatment ended 2 months before Maggie’s Clatterbridge
opened its doors in June 2014 but fate brought me back a few months
later and we found each other!
Maggie’s Cancer Charity was set up by Maggie Keswick in the 90’s - a
lady with breast cancer who felt there was not enough support for those
affected by cancer. There are now 23 centres including one in Tokyo,
Hong Kong & Barcelona. Maggie’s Merseyside is based at Clatterbridge.
It’s a drop in centre open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and is
there to provide free practical and emotional support to anyone affected
by cancer, not just those with cancer but family, carer and friends. It’s a
fabulously warm cosy place, no badges, no uniforms, welcoming and
warm, comfy sofas and cushions.
Each Maggie Centre has a big kitchen table. Kitchen tables are where
we sit feeling at home and chat over a coffee or a tea. At Maggie’s there
20 wirrallife.com
is always someone sitting around the table who’s been through a similar
experience or emotion to you. Our Centre is run by an amazing lady
called Kathy Wright who together with her team of cancer support
nurse specialists offers practical and psychological advice and heads
up support groups and workshops. There is a clinical psychologist, a
benefits advisor, fundraising team and a flock of volunteers to welcome
visitors, make tea, coffee, listen and help direct them in their needs.
There is an incredible evidenced based programme of services at
Maggie’s. Support groups to cover every type of cancer, look and feel
good courses, relaxation, Tai Chi, Yoga, Knit & natter, drum therapy,
expressive arts, survivorship courses - the list is endless!
Two months short of our 5th birthday and the Maggie Centre at
Clatterbridge has seen 60,000 visits and I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess
at how many tea bags have been squeezed out! The atmosphere is great,
lots of laughter, some tears, hugs if needed or space and a quiet corner.
Maggie’s is a Charity relying totally on donations. Each Centre is
different so costs vary but on average it costs around £2400 a day to run
one. The building at Clatterbridge was only meant to be a temporary
site but due to growing numbers and the centre being so outstretched,
work will be starting soon on a bigger permanent structure still situated
at Clatterbridge. We are lucky to have the backing of the Steve Morgan
foundation in the construction of our new centre so an exciting time
ahead and a huge amount of fund raising needed to keep the centre
running! We are grateful to all our supporters.
As for me, five years on I’m fit and healthy. For a short while I lost my
dignity, I also lost my breasts, my hair, eyelashes, brows, oh and my toe
nails... (no one mentions nails!) My big toe nail flipped off on the front
toe! But dignity, hair and nails returned. New breasts created by the skills
of fabulous surgeons and what I never lost was my sense of humour. I
gained the realisation that life is short, family and friends very precious,
and that so many people really cared. A bonus was I found an amazing
Charity where I love being part of the Maggie’s team.
As for Wendy Wig, after 6 months of hard labour she needed a stint in
rehab so retired from public life and celebrity appearances and now lives
quietly in my top drawer.