Who's who; Susan

Susan is the lovely lady who sends out all our blankets with some help of her very kind husband Ricky.

I met Susan through Shelley, because we both had sarcomas, although different types of this rare cancer. I'll let Susan tell you about herself. 

"In May 2005 I was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma. Its a rare form of cancer that was in my fibula bone. I was pregnant when my husband noticed the lump, we went to the local walk in centre and was told it was nothing to worry about and sent home. 5 months later the lump had grown and we went back. We were told again it was nothing to worry about but i had high blood pressure so i needed to go to the hospital incase i had pre eclampsia, which i did have which was lucky because this is when the first person paid attention to the lump. I was induced early so they could take a biopsy of the lump. When my son was 2 weeks old i started my chemotherapy. Because its a rare form of cancer I had to have all my chemotherapy and radiotherapy in central London. I would stay in for 4 days having 4 different types of chemotherapy. The first day my husband had to leave me in hospital and took our son home was the hardest thing I've ever done. I lost my hair, I had my stem cells harvested, I had bone marrow taken from my back and had a pic line inserted. After 6 cycles of chemotherapy I had surgery to remove my fibula bone, nothing was put in its place. A tendon had to be severed to get the bone out leaving me with drop foot. I then found out the chemotherapy hadn't killed my tumor but i was very lucky my surgeon managed to get it all out, I then had 8 more cycles of chemotherapy to make sure nothing was left behind. I had 14 cycles of chemotherapy and was neutrapeanic 13 times, this means my blood count was 0 and i had no immune system and would need to stay in a clean room in hospital where all doctors, nurses and guests needed to wear aprons, masks and gloves when in the room so they didn't pass any germs on to me which could be fatal. Since i finished my treatment i have been going back to London for regular scan to see if the cancer has returned, so far I've been very fortunate to not have it return. Because its a rare form of cancer I've had to have scans for 10 years from when my treatment was finished April 2006. As long as everything goes well i will be having my last appointment April 2016. I've been left with some mobility problems, chronic pain and long term side effects from the chemotherapy which has prevented me returning to work as a florist but i really enjoy being part of the sent with love team. Susan ❤"

Who is who

Over the next few days we shall give you an overview of who is who within Sent with Love, the team consists of Sarah (that's me), Shelley, and Sues.

Today we shall starting with myself, Sarah. 

It was December 2012 when I was diagnosed with a sarcoma, a rare form of cancer found in my nerves. It came as a complete shock to myself and my family, I never thought my pain would be down to anything so serious and was rather naive even when having scans looking for malignancies. 

Mere weeks later I had surgery to remove two tumours and started a long period of rehabilitation. I lost most of the use of my left hand due to one tumour but I was determined to learn to crochet. A hard enough challenge with two working hands never mind just one! 

I soon received my blanket from my internet friends, two of whom you will be hearing about later, and just felt so much love from that parcel, it really was the nicest feeling ever, that something so beautiful came from something so awful,but it inspired me. I wanted to share the feeling that I had received with blanket zero. That others could feel the love and care I felt from receiving something crafted by others I'd never met, that there is good in the world, and that people can genuinely care for someone they have never met. 

In April 2014 I had surgery called an opponensplasty, to enable me to pinch grip things. It's safe to say it worked because about 6 months later I managed to crochet a square, more recently I've made blankets for a new nephew, (who is gorgeous) and a friends little girl who has born two days later. My first fully complete projects of which I'm very proud. 

I'm often asked if my blanket reminds me of cancer, I can honestly say no, just a time where I found who my true friends were, and the overwhelming love and care that can be shown by people, even those you don't know. 

Cancer may have been the worst thing to affect my life but it's taught me much more. I am more than my previous job title (teacher for what it's worth). I'm caring, strong minded and I want to change the world, one blanket at a time.