Claudia Donkin, in Kenya, shares her story of strength

In July 2006, at the age of 29 and living in Kenya, I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. After a combo of 3 chemo drugs, a radical mastectomy and 6 weeks of radiotherapy I was proud to say ‘I had cancer and beat it’. You can imagine my world falling apart (again) when my cancer reared its ugly head again in June 2008. After my first diagnosis I created a fear of making plans but I managed to gather enough courage to plan something a year away, my wedding! On my re-diagnosis I went into a tail spin and cancelled all the wedding arrangements. I mean, who can get married bald and exhausted!? Well I can and did in December 2008! My second time lead me through an even better journey of self discovery. The fear was there but I managed to deal with it a whole lot better. So many people wanted to help and I embraced that the 2nd time round. I also asked for help when I needed it and asked for company when I wanted it. I had another 6 sessions of a chemo/immuno combo and I shared each session with my girlfriends as husband to be was on safari, this all happened during the height of the safari season in Kenya! I was introduced to acupuncture and what a difference it made for my mind and body. I believe it truly helped with the chemo side effects and it definitely helped my over active mind. I finished chemo in October and my hair started to group back in November. I had just enough cover up there and enough dutch courage to go bald on our wedding day. So here I am, married and at the tail end of treatment and making lots of plans!

http://turningheadsstories.com/2009/01/love-hope-strength/