A theatre trip for Lydia and her husband
Lydia from Birmingham had surgery to treat thyroid cancer. For her Willow Special Day, she and her husband went to London to see the show Wicked. It gave them much-needed quality time together as well as time to reflect.
“Looking forward to my Willow Special Day kept my spirits up through hospital stays and isolation.”
Lydia’s story
“When I was 30 and pregnant with my second child, I noticed a lump on my neck. It took over a year of scans, tests and finally surgery to diagnose it as thyroid cancer. It felt like a miracle that it was still only stage one and luckily very treatable. My daughter had been born at that point and was so young that the biggest challenge was navigating hospital stays and being away from my children.
“I needed to have the rest of my thyroid removed and receive radioactive iodine treatment. However, the initial surgery had damaged my vocal cord, meaning it was paralysed on one side, leaving me with partial loss of my voice and some breathing difficulties.
“I had to have around six months of speech and language therapy to improve this before I could have surgery to remove the other side of my thyroid. I struggled to talk, but eventually things improved, and I was back to normal and able to have my second surgery.
“A couple of months after my thyroidectomy, I could proceed with the radioactive iodine treatment, which involved taking a radioactive pill. Because of the radiation, I had to isolate from my children for 10 days, which was the most difficult part.”
“It was amazing to have something so positive out of this whole experience.”
“I honestly felt undeserving of a Special Day. It made me so emotional. It was a treat that we would never have been able to do for ourselves. I can’t put in words how much I looked forward to it – it kept my spirits up through hospital stays and isolation. It was amazing to have something so positive out of this whole experience.
“Undergoing treatment while still working full time and raising two children, life has been so busy that my Special Day was also the perfect opportunity to take time away from everything and reflect. It was probably the first time my husband and I had the chance to talk about everything we’d been through. It was amazing to be able to share the day with him as he has been so supportive and had to take on a lot while I was in hospital.
“I feel honoured and blessed to receive a gift like this.” I’m so grateful to Willow and all the donors that made my Special Day possible. It really was special.”
Willow provides special experiences for seriously ill young adults, like Lydia. Donate today to help more families create lasting memories.