A DUNSTABLE woman who’s had five major operations in the past couple of years claims she wouldn’t have survived without Macmillan Cancer Support.
The nightmare started in 2007 when former Millvale schoolgirl Pauline Harden, 53, of West Street, suffered a burst appendix. “I could feel it oozing and it was absolute agony,” she said. “I’d been to the doctor on three separate occasions. But he said I had irritable bowel syndrome and recommended peppermint.”
Ten days after the operation, Pauline was still in excruciating pain and had further surgery to remove a bowel tumour. It was this that had ruptured her appendix.
The former landlady of Dunstable’s Victoria pub described the diagnosis as like being in a car crash: “You immediately think you’re going to die.
“But after a while you think well I’m not dead yet, so maybe there’s a chance I could get through this. And that’s when I met my Macmillan nurse, Amanda Foster.
“She was brilliant because she knew so much about bowel cancer and could answer all my questions. She’s been an absolute lifeline. I adore her, she’s been fantastic.”
Pauline, whose late partner music publisher Mick Ilka was the grandson of California Ballroom founder Edwin Green, had three further operations – one to tidy up her bowel and two more when the cancer spread to her lungs.
Amanda saw her though all three and it was Amanda who introduced her to Macmillan welfare rights advisor Karina Chamberlain, who has been equally supportive.
Pauline, who’s worked since she was 16 and has been everything from a bank clerk to a sandwich business boss, said: “When you’ve got cancer, money is the last thing on your mind. Your only thoughts are of seeing the sun rise again.
“Without Karina’s help I would have had to sell my house and would probably have gone bankrupt.
“I had no idea how to go about filling in welfare forms. If I’d been in my 70s I would just have given up and accepted it. That sort of stress is the last thing you need when you’re trying to get better. I was so ill I could just about sign my name.
“But Karina fought on my behalf. It can be a long and difficult process but she was with me all the way.
“I even spent a week at a Macmillan hotel in Bournemouth which was fantastic. When your life consists solely of taking tablets, going to the hospital and having scans, it’s wonderful to be able to get away. All the staff are Macmillan nurses and it was as important mentally as it was physically.
“The Macmillan team are there for you all the time. They made me see there’s light at the end of the tunnel and that I wasn’t alone.”
Pauline says when her ‘well’ body returns, she wants to start a charity that begins where Macmillan ends. She’s even thought of a name – ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’
She explained: “This is a life-changing disease and I want to give cancer survivors an opportunity to train to do what they’d like.
“If someone has always wanted to be a pilot, the charity will pay for flying lessons. And then when the person qualifies and is working, they’ll pay the donation back. So it will be self-funding.”
> Macmillan Cancer Support celebrates its centenary this year. Our sister paper, the Herald&Post, has launched an appeal to fund a Macmillan Nurse for 100 days. You can make a donation by visiting www.justgiving.com/heraldandpostappeal or call 01480 408980 – but have your credit or debit card handy.