Jess - aged 15

When she told me I didn't really know what to do or what to say, I just felt like crying - and seeing my mum cry made it a lot worse.

My mum found a lump in her breast just before christmas last year. The doctors told her it was nothing but she kept going back about it. Eventually they did tests and found that the lump was nothing but she had pre-cancer in her breast tissue. When she told me I didn't really know what to do or what to say, I just felt like crying - and seeing my mum cry made it a lot worse. She had her breast removed and a muscle out of her back moved round to the front for a reconstruction. She was in hospital for 12 days and visiting her was difficult at first. After the operation the doctors found that the cancer was worse than they had thaught and there was a small amount of cancerous cells in her lymphnodes. Now, she is having chemotherapy every three weeks until September. They said it is just for precautions but each time the treatment makes her feel a little bit worse. Her hair is starting to fall out now and she's got a wig to wear in case she does loose it all, but she is being very positive about everything so it helps me to cope with what is happening. I know that there are many people with worse situations than me, but I know how upsetting it can be to have an ill parent, especially when I am doing my GCSEs this year which makes it even more stressful. However, I know that it will all turn out ok in the end because of all the treatment she is having and the fact that they caught it early before it got worse.

Page updated 18 July 2012