A THIRTY-FOUR-year-old mum had to tell her four children the heart-breaking news that she had breast cancer, after being diagnosed just before last Christmas last year.
Jodie Robinson from Breightmet was working two jobs before she found out the devastating news, and had to give up her job as a carer.
Jodie’s youngest, Lilly, aged three, has found it the most difficult and ‘couldn’t understand’ why her mum’s hair had fallen out.
Jodie said: “The diagnosis is the most difficult.
“My consultant said that if they found the lump just a week later it would have spread to my lymph nodes.
“My daughter Lilly would ask me ‘do you not have cancer? Because cancer makes you cry’.
“It’s been really difficult for her being away from nursery and having to stay at her dad’s whilst I had chemo.”
At such a young age Jodie will also have to undergo a double mastectomy, which she is still ‘coming to terms with’.
She admitted that as a woman it’s really hard to deal with, especially being ‘quite young’.
Jodie added: “If I was older, I might have embraced it more, but I don’t know though because I’m still coming to terms with it.
“I’m usually quite bubbly and tend to brush a lot off.
“But with this, you just hit rock bottom and it’s a lonely place.
“I’m still anxious and stressed, but I keep going for the kids.”
Because of the aggressive chemotherapy that Jodie had to have, she had to have treatment every third week, which meant it fell near Christmas day, her birthday, and New Year’s Day.
She added: “I felt like I didn’t get a break.
“But I thought I haven’t got a choice I have got to do it.
“I was feeling the best I had felt for a long time plodding on with work and the kids, and then I found the lump.
”But I was feeling tired and unwell quite a lot, which can also be symptoms.”
Something that Jodie didn’t expect was the end of some friendships that she had for 20 years, which was also during a time when visitors weren’t allowed in hospitals, which added to the feeling of loneliness.
She said: “When I got diagnosed, friends I had for 20 years weren’t there.
“After 20 odd years you expect people to be at your door, but for some reason when I got my diagnosis, a lot of people disappeared.
“I thought they thought, they could catch cancer from me or something.
“Strangers and people on social media have shown their support though.
"It's a lonely place and I have very much been on my own.
“But some good friends have set some fundraisers up for me though, which has been amazing.”
Jodie has urged anyone to ‘check their bits’ and to make an appointment if they have a lump, because 'it’s better to be safe than sorry'.
It was only through randomly finding a lump that Jodie went to get checked out.
She said: "Anybody should check their bits if they think they have a lump because it’s so important.
“If it can prevent one person from getting cancer, that’s the important part.”
Jodie also said that it’s really important that people get checked for the Bracker gene, which can be inherited from your mum’s or dad’s side of the family, ‘because not a lot of people know about it’.
Being tested for this gene could show the likelihood of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer in the future, and prevent the need for surgery.
She said: “Both my mum's and dad's side had cancer, but I didn’t know I had the BRCA1 gene until I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer and went into family history, and they tested me for it then.”
Jodie’s siblings and children now have to get tested for the gene to make sure they don’t have it.
Bethany, who will turn 18 in the coming weeks, is being tested for it now.
Before Jodie knew what was ahead, she was helping out a friend in need who had a couple of children and who was impacted by the pandemic, and struggling with her mental health.
She said: “I wanted to know what I could help with food and presents for Christmas, and the community in Bolton have been so supportive.
“There were enough presents for 27 children.
“They have all done the same for me with my cancer.”
Jodie had her last chemotherapy on March 11 and rang the bell.
She is currently halfway through her Chemotherapy and is due to have her double mastectomy on April 19.
You can help support Jodie through the GoFundMe fundraiser here.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel