What cancer were you diagnosed with?

Stage 3 Lymphoblastic Lymphoma

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What age were you diagnosed?

17

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What has helped you to thrive?

Support from my family and friends, focusing on the future and life after cancer and holistic relaxation techniques like music, meditation, reflexology, rekei and visualisation.

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Charlotte's Story

It was quite a rough journey as the chemotherapy and medication didn't agree with me at all. I was on treatment for about two years until I stopped and took a more holistic approach. During the two years I experienced psychosis from the high steroid dose, where it felt like my mind had been taken over and it was really difficult to express myself so I would be acting totally out of character.

Then after that I had a rare side effect to one of the drugs that caused my body to shut down in the space of 3 -4 hours, I couldn't walk, talk or swallow. The doctors didn't know if I would walk or talk again. I carried on working on my speech and mobility along side the chemo but it kept setting me back and I had a massive relapse after a cold where my balance was really effected. After doing research and seeing holistic practitioners I made a decision to stop treatment and within about 6 months I was cancer free. That was 9 years ago, I still faced many side effects even when my treatment was over but now my mobility and speech have greatly improved although I have to continue to work at it daily.

My experience has given me the passion to help others so I wrote a book called cancer | the hidden truth, I do many talks all over and I create content especially for those who have experienced both cancer and disability. I'm also a holistic wellness advisor and loving the journey i'm on, it is still very testing but I get to meet amazing people all the time and it has made me forever grateful.