Isobel Knights had just lost her brother to cancer when she learned she had the disease too.
Four days before the funeral of her elder brother Robert, the 53-year-old, from Inverbervie, was diagnosed with breast cancer on January 10 last year.
Robert died of lung cancer aged 57 on December 28, just five days after he was diagnosed.
Still going through the raw grief and sorrow of her loss, Isobel then had to face the fear of bringing more bad news to her already scarred family.
She had never felt a lump prior to this and had been holding tight to the hope that her breast pain would turn out to be nothing sinister.
And when the doctor gave her the diagnosis, the first thing that crossed her mind was her daughter Steph.
“I was praying every night ‘Please don’t be cancer, please don’t be cancer’ because that meant my daughter would have it on both sides,” Isobel said.
“Most of the women on my husband’s side of the family have died from breast cancer, so when they told me, my first thought was ‘Oh my God…Steph’.
“I went straight to her, we talked about it and she gave me the biggest hug. Then I went ‘Right – this is the situation, deep breath, now let’s get on with it and kick cancer’s ass’.”
‘Unparalleled strength’ through more grief and shock
Isobel went on to have six sessions of chemotherapy, which helped shrink the tumour from five centimetres down to two, and then underwent an operation.
However, there were still cancer cells in it and she was put on another 14 cycles of chemo and three weeks of radiotherapy to prevent the cancer from coming back.
While battling the side effects from the treatment, Isobel’s “unparalleled strength and determination” was once again put to the test.
Four months after her diagnosis, the family suffered another shock when her second brother John died suddenly from heart failure.
None of it was easy, but the hardest part of her journey with cancer was getting her head shaved without John staying by her side to do it with her.
Through the numerous dark and gloomy days filled with grief, the only thing that remained a beacon of light and hope were her family and friends.
Isobel can’t help her laugh when she speaks of all the “crazy” surprises her loved ones did for her to try lift her spirits and give her the power to carry on.
Still undergoing treatment, she is ready to face come what may for her husband Martyn, her daughter and son-in-law Greg and her grandchildren Morgan, 14, and Emma, four.
“They are my happiness and what keeps me going,” Isobel added.
“We’ll see what the next stages are once I’ve finished my chemo and just deal with it. I’ll just pick myself back up and get on with it, with my family and friends by my side.
“And I will fight with everything I have and do everything that’s within my power to live to see the day my grandchildren get married and have children of their own.”
‘A laugh and a smile goes a long way’
Always there to raise a smile, Isobel would be the first one to try brighten up the room with a joke and pass on her immense positivity to others going through the disease.
She even dressed up as Wonder Woman for treatment sessions in the Anchor Unit to give cancer patients some of her own medicine – “a genuine laugh that goes a long way”.
Isobel has now taken on another challenge – probably the hardest yet – to give that little bit of support to others and raise awareness about the different types of cancer.
She will step on the Friends of Anchor’s catwalk this week to strut her stuff alongside another 23 women with their own experience of cancer or haematology.
Admitting the fashion show is a “galaxy away from her”, Isobel said she is ready to brave her face going “all red like a Belisha beacon” to give back to a good cause.
She said: “I’ve got a great support network around me and I know that not everybody has that.
“So if I can make anybody smile, laugh or just make them that little bit happier, I would never think twice.
“This really is the time to take all of the hope and positivity you possibly can, and meeting other people who have been through it gives you that comfort.
“Appreciate every single day, make memories with those you love, take loads of photos and try stay positive because it does make a difference.”
Courage on the Catwalk will take place at the Beach Ballroom on May 6 and 7. Tickets for the all-women fashion show are available on the Friends of Anchor’s website.
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