Cancer is a part of our lives, but it does not define our story!!

This year I have decided to once again join the MACA Cancer200 family and cycle 200kms in aid of cancer research. Last year I was blown away with the support from family & friends, near & far, and raised over $5000. I hope we can do it again this year!

I shared my story with the Harry Perkins Institute of medical research last year and they asked me to be a ride ambassador for the event this year. Usually this is something I would shy away from, but I would like to share my story with the ride community.

This is my story.. 

In July 2021, I scratched the front of my neck and felt a large, tender lump. I assumed it was nothing — a swollen lymph node, a winter bug. I would have ignored it, but my sister-in-law insisted I see a doctor that day. Within weeks, tests, scans and urgent phone calls turned my world upside down.

Around the same time, I discovered I was pregnant. 

Only eight months earlier, we had lost our first daughter, Clodagh, at 30 weeks. From that moment on, protecting this pregnancy became everything. I was terrified, not for myself but for our baby. With my parents stranded in Ireland due to COVID’s closed borders, I leaned heavily on my mother-in-law Debbie, who was fighting metastatic bowel cancer and became a rock for me.

I spent weeks in limbo, getting second opinions, attending scans, and waiting, all while knowing deep down that the lump growing inside me, alongside my baby, was cancer. At 15 weeks pregnant, I underwent a hemi-thyroidectomy. The surgery was later successfully completed in June 2022. Debbie sadly passed away shortly after my first operation. I was devastated, but I knew I had to stay strong.

In April 2022, our daughter Ivy came into the world healthy and strong—an overwhelming relief. A few months later, I received a radioactive iodine treatment, which means I’m now cancer-free. I will have to take medication for life, but that feels like a small price to pay for more time with my daughter.

Together, we can beat cancer!