‘Having cancer changed my life’... Mother tells of multiple battles against ‘horrific’ disease

A mother who has beaten cancer multiple times - once when she was expecting her second child - is looking to help others struggling with the disease.

Rebecca Brazier has had to face the devastating news of being told she had cancer three times already in her life.

The 53-year-old, from Rudgwick, has now written a book based on her experiences both as a patient and as a counsellor and is set to launch it in Horsham.

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Rebecca was first diagnosed with the condition at the age of 37, whilst she was 30 weeks pregnant with her second child.

She said: “The diagnosis was horrific but I then had to think about the decision of treatment.”

Rebecca had two cycles of chemotherapy before her daughter - Bonnie - was born. Thankfully Rebecca said she was born healthy and is now a happy 15-year-old.

But she explained it was mentally tougher to deal with the disease after Bonnie was born, with the constant worry of whether she would survive to see her and her eldest daughter Poppy grow up.

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She said: “My world completely fell apart because there was still all this uncertainty of ‘I still had the cancer’. It was a real fear of mine that I would die and they wouldn’t have known me let alone remember me.”

During this time Rebecca explained she entered a dark place and became lonely and isolated even once her treatment had stopped.

She spent many years in therapy and began documenting her experiences, which have become the basis of her new book.

However, it wasn’t until she was diagnosed again with the disease that she started writing The Two Faces of Cancer.

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She explained: “Just as I was going to be discharged from my oncologist I had a relapse of the cancer. To channel my emotions I started to write the book.”

Rebecca said the book explores three key areas. It looks at her personal journey and how she coped with the process emotionally. It also explores the disease from a counselling side. Rebecca trained as a counsellor during her treatment and now works in the profession.

She added the final message in the book was to not let the disease hold you back and to live your life.

She said: “Having cancer changed my life. I have done things I have never done before. It’s kind of made me live my life even though it was such a horrific experience.”

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Rebecca was diagnosed with the disease for a third time but said she was now healthy.

She is set to launch her book at Bills restaurant in Market Square on Monday January 28 from 6.30pm.

To find our more visit www.thetwofacesofcancer.com