A heartbroken mum-of-two has said telling her children about her breast cancer diagnosis was the "hardest thing" she has ever had to do. It was three days after her 40th birthday when Louise Charlesworth got diagnosed with breast cancer at the Royal Derby Hospital.
The mum from Ilkeston said the news came as a "big shock". Mrs Charlesworth was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in June last year.
"It is a fast, very aggressive form of cancer," she said. "When I heard the news, the first thought that went through my head were my children because they are so very young, and I did not know if I was capable to be there for them."
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Her two girls, Ellie and Jaycee, are aged 14 and 10 years old respectively. "There is no love like a mother's love," said Mrs Charlesworth, trying to hold back her tears.
She said the thought of not being able to be with her daughters was unbearable. "I asked myself - am I going to die?
"It was just very difficult to think about it. It is a question that I cannot ever bring myself to ask but it was a grade 3 triple negative breast cancer, which is a rare form of cancer."
Mrs Charlesworth, now 41, said she had previously lost her mother-in-law to cancer. "It was difficult to tell my children because they have already had that experience with their grandmother, who also had breast cancer and went through chemotherapy.
"One of the questions that they asked me was 'are you going to die?' - and that is a question that I could not answer because I do not know what my path will lead to. Nobody knows what is going to happen."
The mum went through chemotherapy, radiotherapy and she has also had a surgery. "I recently had a mammogram and they told me that there was no evidence of detected cancer. But they are having to keep a close eye on me and monitor me every three months.
"That's what we have to do at the moment - just keep battling through and be grateful for every day and to live with hope. I am just so proud of my girls who get up every morning and battle through the day, keep positive and give me strength."
When she learned about the diagnosis, Mrs Charlesworth said she took her time to tell her girls about it. "I told my parents straight away, but I did not tell my girls until the weekend because I wanted to make sure that there was support in place for them."
She contacted the school, requesting that her girls had a support network at school. On a Friday evening, the mum shared the devastating news with her daughters.
"Nobody wants to tell their children they have got cancer at any age. But to tell my children when they are so young was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do," she added. "When they asked if I am going to die I would have loved to say 'of course not' - but I could not."
Above everything, the mum said she was proud of her daughters, who learned how to cope with their mother's diagnosis and overcome the heartbreak. The two girls have come together to raise money for a Nottingham charity which provides free cancer support and information.
"Maggie's is a charity very close to our hearts and has given us as a family support in our darkest time," the mum added. The girls wanted to give back to Maggie's as a thank you for the support they had given her and to help others whose life has been affected by cancer.
They both gave up their free time in the summer holidays getting crafty and arranging an event to raise money from their back garden. In September they held an event selling craft items, homemade baked cakes, tombola and games.
Unfortunately, the day before the event, the family had an unexpected phone call. "The day before my girls were in the kitchen making cakes and we had a telephone," the mum added.
"We were told that their great-grandma had passed away of cancer that day. They both went upstairs and they were obviously devastated. And I was thinking that we might postpone the event - they were so heartbroken. But then they came downstairs and said 'we will just carry on'.
"They showed so much strength and determination. They just said: 'we are going to do this mama'." Their target for their event was £300. The girls went on and raised £1363.04.
A spokesperson for Maggie's said: “We are so proud of the hard work from Ellie and Jaycee in their fundraising efforts for the Nottingham Maggie’s centre. They set a goal of £300 but by the end of the weekend they had raised an incredible £1363.04, an amount that will go such a long way in supporting those affected by cancer across the East Midlands.
"The girls are extremely inspirational and have put in so much hard work over the last few weeks, we hope they inspire more people just like them to get together support their local centre. Well Done Ellie and Jaycee.”
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