Shona's Diagnosis

I was first diagnosed back in May 2022 with Stage 2b cervical cancer.

I had given birth to my little boy, Mason, back in June and following the birth things just weren’t right. I was bleeding a lot, and knew this wasn’t normal. In the November, I spoke to my GP about it and they said it was normal post-pregnancy.

Come February, it still hadn’t stopped, I was scared, and went to the GP who referred me for an emergency scan. I was sent to gynaecology at Crosshouse, and I remember the Consultant’s demeanour changing once I got in the room. She told me they had seen something and they needed to take biopsies - but she warned me to prepare myself for this being a cancer.

Two weeks later the diagnosis was confirmed.

Will's Diagnosis
(Shona's Husband)

Will, my husband had ulcerative colitis, and was always having flare ups. Around the time I was diagnosed, he complained of just not feeling right – experiencing symptoms similar to his colitis. In August 2022, he became pretty unwell, he was struggling to play with the kids so he took himself up to hospital, and was admitted.

That day, he was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer.

At the time, we were told that Will’s cancer would be incurable, however with treatment his life could be extended by years.

We were positive, we were both active – Will coached basketball and we were relatively healthy. The oncology team were hopeful, so we paused on telling my 5 year old daughter Thea about Will’s diagnosis.

Will was initially in hospital for a week, to drain fluid from his abdomen, and he was discharged a week later.

The following day, we were supposed to be at hospital to meet with his clinical team, but he couldn’t get out of bed. They were planning to start chemo the next week. That day, I found out that my treatment was working, and it felt very bitter sweet that my cancer was responding well to treatment, but Will’s was advanced – and I struggled with the guilt around that.

How ACS Supported Shona's Family

I first engaged with Ayrshire Cancer Support when Will was first diagnosed. I felt like my world had been hit by a nuclear bomb. I was having treatment, and my husband was dying - I couldn’t comprehend what was happening in my world.

It was my Clinical Nurse Specialists that referred me in for some counselling – so I had a safe space to open up to someone and express my fears. I then had some complementary therapy, and then we accessed the Children and Young People service – Thea got weekly one to one support from Gill, and we attended the fortnightly family peer support group in the Ayr Centre.

I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without Ayrshire Cancer Support.

I carry a lot of guilt, that I survived and Will didn’t. I didn’t know my purpose. And I just remember coming here, sitting with Sarah the counsellor, and saying that I just simply couldn’t picture my future. I didn’t know if I want to be here anymore. I knew I would stay for my kids, but I also couldn’t ignore the thoughts in my head – and that was scary.

I’ll never forget Sarah saying “We’ve got you” – and that was just the little glimmer of hope, that although these were the darkest days – there was support there. It felt like they were there, holding all of our hands, and getting us through this really difficult part.

I know that as Mason gets older, he’ll have questions, and I won’t hesitate to refer him in for support. I’m so grateful that my nurses referred me in.

What’s so good about Ayrshire Cancer Support – it’s not just for the person with the diagnosis – it’s for the people in their life affected too. Coming in doesn’t mean there’s something wrong, it’s just a safety net and the services are there when you need them.

The family sessions were a lifeline to us, and it was really beneficial for Thea to see that things like this happened to other families, not just ours.

My fear was that group sessions would be doom and gloom, but it wasn’t like that at all – we connected, we did arts and crafts, we got to know each other and spoke about life.

As a family, we’re on a lifelong journey now, but I know that we can all tap in and out if and when we need support, and the team at ACS will be there.

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