A YOUNG Ringwood mum will be the VIP who sets off this year's Race For Life after beating off Stage 4 cancer.

Over months of unexplained and worsening symptoms, Varrie Dunlop was painfully being transformed from a normal, healthy 26-year-old mother who worked full time into someone who felt too ill to function or care.

After repeated hospital and GP visits and two emergency hospital admissions, Varrie was found to be suffering from an advanced cancer.

Being diagnosed was the turning point for Varrie - who has a five-year-old daughter, Lana, with her partner Michael Cherrett, 27 - and she has been slowly recovering ever since.

An admirable fighting spirit prompted Varrie to enter Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life but recurring infections – due to treatment which has impaired her immune system - have hindered her recovery, causing her to pull out of this year’s event.

But, determined to take part somehow, Varrie will be a special guest at Bournemouth to ring the bell which sets runners off.

Her health worries started around a year ago with a large and painful infection in her eyes which spread to her lips, nose and across her face. Although antibiotics cleared up that up, she started to feel tired and rundown but put it down to being a full-time working mum.

She joined a gym but by June last year she starting suffering shooting pains in her legs at night, sometimes so severe she could not sleep or move.

Although she stopped her gym visits, the pains got progressively worse.

She went back to her GP and a viral infection was blamed, possibly linked to anxiety or depression. When Varrie then started to lose weight and suffer severe night sweats, she blamed the hot summer.

A blood test indicated an irregularity but she collapsed before she was able to take another test a few weeks later. She was rushed to A & E where doctors blamed a problem with her heart.

Varrie felt progressively worse over the next few months.

“I felt like I was dying," she said. "By then, I started getting pains in my tummy that were so bad I struggled to walk. I felt so ill at this point, I didn’t care”.

When she was rushed to A&E again, appendicitis was blamed but a CT scan identified a growth in her stomach and a lump in one of her armpits.

Varrie was warned it could be cancer but, before doctors could carry out a biopsy, she picked up sepsis and had to wait another two agonising weeks before it was confirmed in November last year she had Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“By then, I just wanted to know what was wrong with me," she said. "I had been to my doctor and the hospital so many times over four months it helped to finally be told it was not all in my head."

The cancer had spread to her spinal cord and the fluid in her brain and, if left for many more weeks, doctors said her organs would start shutting down.

Varrie, a call centre worker, spent three weeks in hospital undergoing the intensive chemotherapy which was needed to save her life.

Regular scans indicated things had started going in the right direction and in February a scan confirmed she was cancer free.

“One of the hardest things during treatment was being away from my beautiful daughter, Lana," she said. "But thanks to research and an amazing team of doctors, I am alive and now in remission. I am eager to regain energy to be the best mum I can be.

“I know because of the intensive chemotherapy required, it will be a long time before I am back to normal and the recovery is a lot harder than I expected, but I am thankful to be alive!”

Varrie, who lives with her mum and dad, wants to raise awareness to encourage others to spot symptoms to get an early diagnosis.

“I didn’t have any lumps or bumps. I took a long time to be diagnosed because I didn’t have obvious symptoms. But I would encourage people to insist on getting anything unusual checked out, even if they are not what you would normally link to cancer. Insist your doctor takes you seriously," she said.

“Lymphoma is very common in my age group. I thought I was tired because I was working hard and I had night sweats because it was summer. If I had started treatment sooner my cancer may not have got so advanced.

“As it was I was torn away from my family – and particularly my daughter – for 21 days. That may also have been avoided if I was diagnosed sooner”.

n There's still time to join Race For Life in Bournemouth on Sunday June 9. More details here: https://raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org/find-an-event/the-seafront-10k-2019-06-09-0000