Less than a year after being critically ill with Covid-19, mum-of-four Bobby-jo WIlloughby discovered a worrying lump on her neck while she was heavily pregnant.
Devastatingly, the lump turned out to be thyroid cancer. Bobby-jo, 30, is still under the care of specialists at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle, but in the meantime she's determined to channel her trauma into raising money for the charities which have helped her and highlight how vital it is to watch out for the signs of cancer..
The Dunston mum is running the Race for Life in Newcastle in July, and she's urging everyone to keep a close eye on changes to their bodies. As she was pregnant at the time, she only went under the knife to remove half of her thyroid after her baby - the now five-months-old Lily-Rae - was born. A biopsy confirmed it was cancer.
Speaking to ChronicleLive, she said: "I only found out then. It was such a massive shock, especially as I had a newborn baby." Bobby-jo, who has also recently graduated with a foundation degree as she looks to eventually become a paramedic, is currently waiting for tests which will determine whether she needs to have the other half of her thyroid removed.
She added: "It's incredibly traumatising - especially because of the implications. What if the cancer spreads? Not long before I found out I had cancer, I was in critical care with Covid. Over the last year or so I've had Covid, recovered, been pregnant, then finding the lump before being diagnosed with cancer while having a newborn. It's been awful, one thing after another.
"In January last year I was in critical care for three weeks at the in QE [Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead]. I couldn't see my kids for that time. The doctors did a great job looking after me physically, but mentally that was a huge blow."
Now, Bobby-jo is hoping that she can boost the coffers of Cancer Research UK and the specialist charity Mummy Star - which supports those diagnosed with cancer while pregnant or while their child is under a year old. She added: "I'm totally directing all of my anger towards fundraising and trying to raise more awareness about thyroid cancer. It can be really easily missed. If my mum hadn't noticed the lump I'm not sure where I'd be.
"People don't really check their necks in the same way that they might check their breasts, for example. But if you find a lump anywhere you need to get it seen to. I'm running the Race for Life in Exhibition Park in July with my partner Steven, though he's recovering from having broken his leg in four places too."
Tracey Derbyshire, an information and support walker at Mummy Star who's been helping Bobby-jo, explained how Mummy Star works to offer one-to-one support, help affected families connect with one another and help with the financial burdens which can hit people diagnosed with cancer while new parents. She added: "We try to raise awareness that cancer can happen in pregnancy or when someone has a young child. Our aim is to do that and to ensure that the general population knows that if they notice anything odd they should get it checked out."
To find Bobby-jo's fundraising page, visit fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/bobby-jos-race-for-life. Send your best wishes to Bobby-jo in the comments below.
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