Hi there! My name is Laura Ashurst. I’m a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. For the last 17 years I’ve also been a cancer patient at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough; I’m one of the one in eight women worldwide who develops breast cancer in her lifetime. I’m also a human being behind that statistic. I’m me and I’m living with cancer.
I joined this group of women as a ‘primary breast cancer’ patient in September 2001, shuffled along to ‘primary breast cancer patient with a reoccurrence’ in September 2004 and then became a Stage 4 ‘secondary, incurable breast cancer’ patient in December 2007.
Just sticking with the stats for a bit longer, because this bit’s important to me, really important; I’m approaching 12 years surviving secondary breast cancer and that’s why I blog about my life and my experiences of living with cancer. It’s a monumental milestone. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to still be here, 10 years after the day my oncologist said ‘You have terminal cancer’. But I am and I hope I am for a long time to come.
I’m also very, very lucky indeed which may not be a word that you expect to hear in a description of a person who has incurable cancer but that’s exactly what I am. I’m lucky because I have a husband who has literally been my rock, two children who have blossomed into fine young adults, a wonderful wider family and a group of friends who have supported, loved me and enriched my life in so many ways.
Each of us has different challenges that we face; cancer happens to be mine. I’m blogging to share my experiences and if any of that helps one other person, my mission will have been accomplished.
Here’s to this wonderful life and the help we can give one another.
