Brenda Webster, 69, from Pimperne, is having “treatment after treatment to extend my life,” having beaten breast cancer 26 years ago, only for it to return.
It’s been an up and down few years as different treatments were offered with varying side effects, but she’s been able to enjoy our Thursday sessions in Shaftesbury for the last five years and more recently, Wednesday sessions in Blandford too.
“After one treatment I felt wonderful, but after another I was like a zombie,” she said.
“My wonderful community oncology nurse suggested I come to Weldmar day services and I thought, I can’t do that. But I felt worse and worse, and I said, oh all right and Verity rang me to invite me just to come for a coffee and see how I liked it.
“I was welcomed by another patient, Susie – she was gorgeous – and after lots of talking the group just pulled me out of this black hole I was in.
“After three weeks or so I was driving home and suddenly felt uplifted. I thought, ‘Oh, it works then…’”
Brenda, who worked as a legal secretary, has even become keen on arts and crafts having “never liked it before”.
“It takes you away from your problems,” she said. “You can concentrate on something else.”
She added: “Sometimes we do talk about our problems – it helps a lot. We don’t always want to offload on our nearest and dearest because it upsets them. But you can always get the lovely people at Weldmar to help you out.
“We all get on really well. And if you have any problems with medication or anything they will sort it out for you.”
Brenda’s a bit of a record breaker, having had 43 cycles of her last drug.
“My doctor said it must be a world first,” she joked.
