7:00pm Friday 16th October 2009
By Emma Joseph
FROM enjoying a glittering acrobatic career to being diagnosed with a brain tumour – it took just a few months for Kirsty Edwards’ life to turn upside down.
The teenager was given the all-clear just after her 18th birthday, but the effects of the tumour on her balance, talking and walking remain as a constant reminder of what she went through.
But a stay at the Youth Cancer Trust’s Tracy Ann House in Alum Chine gave Kirsty and her fiance Daniel Clarke, 19, the chance to escape and enjoy life as normal teenagers.
The charity funds free activity holidays for young cancer patients, offering them the chance to try different experiences and meet friends who understand what they are going through.
“There was more to do than we ever expected,” said Kirsty, from Coalville in Leicestershire.
“Doing new things I’ve never tried before with people who have been through the same thing as you is great for making you feel confident again.”
The holiday was a welcome break for both Kirsty and Dan, who had only been together for a month when Kirsty was diagnosed with a brain tumour in September 2007.
She first saw doctors in December 2006 complaining of feeling sick and dizzy, but it was nine months before a correct diagnosis was made.
She was sent for nine pregnancy tests, given anti-sickness pills and diagnosed with vertigo before finally being sent for an MRI scan.
“Finally, one of the consultants asked for a second opinion on the vertigo and it was then that I was diagnosed with what was either a cyst or a tumour,” she said.
“I then had another scan which showed a growth the size of a chestnut.”
Kirsty was in surgery two days later, undergoing a six-hour operation to remove the tumour. She remained in intensive care for a further six weeks where she developed mutism as her speech got worse and worse following the brain surgery.
Then followed an eight-week course of radiotherapy, along with weekly chemotherapy.
“Losing my hair and finding it in clumps on my pillow annoyed me, so I shaved it off,” remembers Kirsty.
A second, four-week course of chemotherapy began just after Christmas, but Kirsty got an infection through the intravenous catheter used for the administration of the drugs and also contracted E-coli.
“My main nurse was trying to help me with my speech. It felt so weird trying to speak again, but gradually it got better and better, but my walking got worse and worse, I was in a wheelchair all the time.
“I then had a blood transfusion as my blood platelets were so low. But I had a really bad reaction to one of the transfusions. My neck swelled up and I couldn’t breathe.”
Kirsty was in and out of hospital for months and her chemotherapy was halted after she suffered a mini heart attack.
“It was such a worrying period, but I had a scan just before Christmas Eve and I was told that I was clear,” she said.
“It was a fantastic Christmas present.”
Kirsty’s walking and speech has since improved and she now uses a walker or sticks rather than a wheelchair.
She and Dan got engaged in August and want to marry once Kirsty completes university.
But for the immediate future, they are already planning a return visit to Tracy Ann House.
“We’re going to try and come back next year with the same group,” she said.
“I don’t have to explain to everyone here what’s wrong with me, but if you go away on holiday elsewhere you have to keep explaining. Tracy Ann House just feels safe.”
* YCT has launched a £1.5 million appeal to move the facility to new, bigger premises. Anyone who can help should call 01202 763591, email admin@yct.org.uk or visit yct.org.uk.
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