Worthing mum battling cancer for the third time raises more than £1,800 for Breast Cancer Now

Jackie Palmer gathered family and friends for a fundraising Pink Fizz Afternoon Tea on Saturday, supporting Breast Cancer Now, and talked openly about her cancer to help raise awareness during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

She wanted to thank those who rallied around in her times of need over the past 18 months and ask for continued, long-term support as she again starts chemotherapy – this time indefinitely.

Jackie said: "I accept that it will never go away but that I have to give it a go to try to prolong my life so the boys have their mum as long as possible, and I can live my life to the full.

"It’s been incredibly tough but my sons have given me the strength to carry on. I cannot thank my family and friends enough for their love and loyalty during these incredibly dark and difficult times."

Jackie was 46 when she was first diagnosed with primary breast cancer and secondary bone cancer in 2012. She feared she would not see her sons grow up.

She underwent a double mastectomy when her youngest son, Harrison, was nine and despite successive treatments, the cancer has returned again.

Harrison, now 19, has just started a masters' degree in aeronautical and aerodynamic engineering at the University of Leeds, after taking a gap year to help care for his mum.

His older brother Lewis, 23, has meanwhile successfully completed a first-class masters' degree in civil engineering at the University of Birmingham.

Jackie said: “People can and do live with cancer. I had six cycles of chemotherapy at the Montefiore Hospital in Hove last winter and I was looked after by Harrison and friends at home. I was really poorly after each session of chemotherapy."

When the cancer was first detected ten years ago, Jackie was juggling her busy life as a single mother and her successful career with EDF’s nuclear development team in London.

She had six cycles of chemotherapy, three weeks of intensive radiotherapy and an operation to remove the cancer and diseased lymph nodes.

Jackie said: "Removal of the lymph nodes has caused severe lymphoedema in the right arm, so wearing normal High Street clothes can be quite restrictive and the arm requires weekly treatment and the wearing of uncomfortable compression garments.

"Bone cancer medication had a very unexpected effect in that it fractured both my femurs, which has meant rods being inserted from my hip to the knee and yet more major surgery.”

Jackie and her family were dealt a further major blow last year, after a fall at home, when an MRI scan revealed the breast cancer had spread to her cervix – an extremely rare development.

Jackie said: "Scans showed earlier this year that we had reduced the size of the tumour and things were looking stable, so I was looking forward to getting back to work and some sort of normality.

"But a scan in the late summer showed that the cancer had started to grow again and I needed more chemotherapy – this time on an indefinite basis.

"Fortunately, I have received great medical support from oncologist Dr Adrian Moss and breast surgeon Mr Riccardo Bonomi at Goring Hall Hospital. I have now started taking a new breast cancer treatment drug that has shown good results.

"I have no idea yet whether I will lose my hair again as the drug is so new and there are no studies. But there is no choice – I have to keep going for my boys and family.”

The low-key Jackie's Girl's Pink Fizz Afternoon Tea snowballed into a registered charity event with around 50 guests, with women wearing pink and men serving them in pink aprons and tiaras. So far, more than £1,800 has been raised. To make a donation, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/girls-pink-fizz.