A nurse undergoing gruelling chemotherapy treatment for her breast cancer has been forced to keep working due to the cost of living crisis.
Kerry George, 48, is still working as an agency nurse twice a week, despite receiving an aggressive dose of chemotherapy once a week.
The mum-of-two from Neath, South Wales, found a lump on her breast at the end of June.
She said: “I didn’t think much of it at first but I went to the doctors, got referred and found out it was cancer quite quickly. I started chemotherapy three weeks ago and it has really knocked me for six - I didn’t expect it to hit me that hard so quickly.
"It’s been very difficult during this time - I’ve worked since I was 16 years old, through university, and I just feel let down. There doesn’t seem to be any support in place for when people need it the most. I never envisioned this happening to me - there's no support and if I don’t work I don’t get paid."
Kerry says that universal credit is the only financial help available to her, but it wouldn’t be enough for her family during the winter months.
She said: “I haven’t been able to claim any financial help. Universal credit will only be able to give me £320 a month and my mortgage is £470 - I don’t know how anyone can live on that. I’m so ill but I still have to go to work, there’s no other way really."
The mum claims that working in a hospital is extremely dangerous for her during this time as her immune system is down due to chemotherapy.
Kerry works mostly on a stroke rehabilitation ward but can be sent to cover any medical ward, which poses an extra risk of her catching Covid. She has to be careful not to pick up an infection because her white blood cell count is low.
She said: “I’m just exhausted, I needed a blood transfusion the last few days because I’ve been so bad. I have to go to work when I should be resting. I do the night shift, which is 13.5 hours long and it has been really hard.”
Kerry has another 12 weeks of chemotherapy and then surgery scheduled for a mastectomy and lumpectomy, to remove her breast and lymph nodes. She said: “I’m really worried and nervous about all of it, but especially how long I’m going to be off work and if I’m able to make a recovery.”
During this difficult time, Kerry and her family have also been affected by the cost of living crisis. She said: “Everything has just shot up so much, we’ve had to cut back on gas and electricity and sometimes there’s no food here. It’s so dire at the moment, I just don’t know what I’m going to do when I get sicker and the bills go up again in October.”
Kerry says how she has been considering using a food bank in the coming weeks due to the financial strain. She said: “The bills are ridiculous and there’s no spare money. The electric bill has doubled and I’m putting in about £20 every couple of days - it just doesn’t last.”
Her fiance Gareth Jones, 39, is unable to work at the moment as he has been caring for her, which will be especially difficult in the next few months.
Currently, she and her family are relying on financial support from other members of their family and a GoFundMe page, which was set up by her friend Lauren Hindmarsh.
“It’s so lovely what Lauren has done for me. But I feel like a bit of a scrounger relying on that [gofundme page] as I don’t like to ask for help. I’ve always supported myself. But everyone has been so lovely - I don’t know what I would have done without everybody. My family has been wonderful and always there for me emotionally - helping with bills and a food shop," she said.
Kerry plans to use the money raised from the GoFundMe page toward her bills and to help with the financial burden while she recovers from surgery. The goal is to raise £1,500 and £660 has been donated so far.
