AT JUST 25-years-old, Emma Burrow was diagnosed with a rare cancer that went on to rob her of her home, her marriage and her independence.
She was told she had Hodgkin lymphoma – an aggressive and uncommon cancer affecting a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body.
The first diagnosis for the Darlington woman came eight years ago. She endured gruelling chemotherapy and relapsed three times.
Her treatment involved four rounds of chemo and two stem cell transplants – one in 2012 using her own stem cells and another in 2015, using cells from a donor. With the cancer and therapies ravaging her body, Ms Burrow needed six joint replacements. Both of her hips, shoulders, left knee and left elbow were replaced.
Ms Burrow relapsed shortly after the transplant three years ago and was finally told that her cancer was terminal.
Believing the worst, Ms Burrow lost everything.
She said: “It’s fair to say that things were tough, emotional and stressful.
“Sometimes everything felt impossible and as if everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
“There were many times that I felt like giving up. I lost my marriage, my home, my job, my independence and my confidence.
“I pushed my friends and family away and isolated myself because I had nothing to feel positive about.”
As she turned 30, Ms Burrow began to receive palliative care. Against all odds, she responded to palliative chemotherapy and has since been in remission for three years.
The 33-year-old said: “Despite what I’ve been through, I wouldn’t change anything that has happened to me, because it genuinely has made me a stronger person. I have such a better outlook on life now.
“I still have lasting side effects from things that have happened, physically and mentally, but I won’t let that stop me from living my life to the full because I have learned how quickly it can be taken away.
“It would have been so much easier to just give up in the darkest times, but I refused to let cancer get the better of me. I refused to let it beat me.
“I was very fortunate to benefit from the amazing research which led to the treatments I had, which put me into remission.”
Ms Burrow has gone from strength to strength in her remission, volunteering in Darlington’s Cancer Research UK shop as well as working full-time with the North East Ambulance Service as a research and development administrator and ambulance liaison assistant.
She is also studying for a degree in health and social care and hopes others will take inspiration from her story and support the charity working to boost cancer survival rates.
Cancer Research UK’s campaign for World Cancer Day on February 4 encourages everyone to wear Unity Bands, coloured in pink, navy and blue.
It can be worn in memory of a loved one, to celebrate people who have overcome cancer or in support of those going through treatment. Every hour, around two people are diagnoses with the disease in the North-East.
By making a donation for a Unity Band, money will be raised for life-saving research. Unity Bands are available in Cancer Research UK shops and online at cruk.org/worldcancerday
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