A REDDITCH mum of two battling breast cancer is raising funds to buy hand creams for staff at the Alex.
Melissa Lammas, aged just 36, was diagnosed on February 14 this year.
However plans to start a promising new chemotherapy regime prior to an operation had to be shelved due to Covid-19.
As a consequence she had the operation early, on April 22, and is now awaiting chemotherapy.
Despite the trauma of it all the part time Avon Lady and Warwickshire County Council employee is throwing her energies into doing what she can to make life easier for staff at the Alex.
“I was due to start chemotherapy on March 16 – they wanted to do a pre-op trial as they were having promising results,” said Melissa, who has a two-year-old daughter, Paige-Elizabeth, and son William, aged ten months.
“However then they delayed by a week and then said they were cancelling the chemo and doing the operation first instead.”
To make sure there was no risk of cross-infection Melissa’s operation was carried out at a private hospital in Worcester – but only after she’d had two negative tests for coronavirus.
“It’s been a rollercoaster few months,” said Melissa, who’s tumour was only discovered following an ultrasound after she insisted to doctors that she had a lump.
By then it had spread into her lymph nodes and she is now awaiting test results to discover if she is clear of cancer.
“I’m really good, I do have my down days, asking why this is happening to me, but on the whole I’ve been quite positive as it can have a huge impact on recovery,” she said.
Throughout it all Melissa has been supported by her husband Jamie, who works for Tesco, and her in-laws.
Melissa has a business page on Facebook and Instagram which is ‘Avon Lady Mel’.
Hand creams cost £2 each but people can obviously donate however much they want to.
