As part of Wear it Pink Day 2021 and October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our Senior Complex Care Case Officer, Peggie Gleeson, has very bravely decided to share her own personal story of her battle with breast cancer. Peggie hopes to raise awareness through doing this, and for those of you that may have never had a scan or check-up, this may just be the motivation that you needed…

“My name is Peggie Gleeson I am 62 years young on 25^th October 2021 (flowers are very welcome!) I have three wonderful children; my eldest son is 35 and I have twin girls who are 31. I have 5 beautiful grandchildren ranging from 1 to 11 years old. In my spare time I enjoy watching sports, mainly football (Everton of course), F1 and cricket.

“I began working for Amore in 2016. The Registered Manager at the time was sadly diagnosed with breast cancer. I had never had a breast scan even though I was 58 years old but after hearing this devastating news, it prompted me to book a scan to check I was okay.

“Just two weeks after attending my scan I received a letter asking me to return to the hospital for a biopsy as they had found an abnormality. I went for the biopsy where I was informed I had two lumps, one stage three and one stage 4 cancer. The lumps were hidden at the back of my breast and just one week later I returned at the hospital for a full mastectomy where I also had lymph nodes removed from under my arm.

“I could not be offered Chemo due to having a supressed immune system. However, I did have intensive radiotherapy for three weeks which I found very tiring.  I was put on drugs, one for 3 years and one for 10 years, however due to the pandemic this delayed my treatment, which has now extended how long I must take these drugs for.

“The impact cancer has on your life is hard and takes a lot of getting your head around.  I had 12 weeks recovery at home with lots of well wishes from my Amore colleagues and visits from the Director’s, Gareth and Ian, as well as our Regional Complex Care Manager, Joanne Aiken, before I returned to work.

“Just a few months ago, I had the opportunity to ring the bell to mark the end of one of the treatments I was receiving, though I will still continue to receive treatment for another 7 years.

“I am still here and not going anywhere. My advice would be if you feel there is something not right, go and get checked out! If you have not been invited for a scan when you reach a certain age, make sure you ring them and tell them… or otherwise you could be telling a completely different story to this one.”

Today we are joining Peggie in raising awareness and showing support by taking part in Breast Cancer’s Now ‘Wear it Pink Day’, giving everyone an excuse to wear pink and competing in the Big Pink Quiz 2021, whilst raising money to support the incredible work that Breast Cancer Now do.

If you would like to make a donation to our Just Giving page, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/amore-group1.