Danielle’s Special Day story

Danielle’s world came tumbling down when what she thought was DVT was actually diagnosed as Sarcoma. After months of hospital appointments all the 33-year-old wanted was to spend time with her family so she asked Willow for a break to Center Parcs.

I was a fashion designer who travelled to the Far East several times a year and when my leg swelled after a trip to China, my partner, John, and I foolishly thought it was deep vein thrombosis. When I was diagnosed with Sarcoma, I felt numb. John couldn’t believe it and my mum was, and still is, devastated. Sarcoma had taken over all of our lives. Our trip to Center Parcs gave us a much-needed break from hospitals and talking about hospitals and allowed us to enjoy some ‘us’ time.

It’s funny how a break with loved ones makes you realise what’s important in life. My daughter loved it, my mum stopped worrying for the week and it was lovely to see her and my aunt relax.

Danielle

Since July, it felt like all I’ve said to my daughter Blossom is: ‘mummy can’t do that’, ‘mummy needs a rest’, ‘mummy feels sick’, so having time for us to do activities together was a huge thing.

We went straight from my MRI appointment to Center Parcs. Normally, because I’ve had a bad experience with MRIs, I always end up crying and working myself up. This time, I took deep breaths and pictured Blossom’s face when she got to Center Parcs and it went much better than normal.

It’s funny how a break with loved ones makes you realise what’s important in life. My daughter loved it, my mum stopped worrying for the week and it was lovely to see her and my aunt relax.

As a family, our lives have been dominated by the diagnosis and to have a break from it all out of our environment made a big difference. The week was fabulous.

I didn’t think I could do the treatment, but I got through it and now I’ve come back refreshed and ready for the big op to remove the tumour.