Smiles of thanks from brave Julie

IN it together. . . Julie Lowe with daughters Vicky (left) and Emma

THE day after Julie Lowe was diagnosed with breast cancer she went to work as usual to keep her mind busy.

Her husband Kevin did the same but had to go home when the enormity of what was happening kicked in.

That was the start of a whirl of hospital appointments, tough decisions, surgery and treatment which will hopefully give Julie a new lease of life.

And to say thank-you to the team who supported her, the family are organising fund-raising events to bring in thousands of pounds for Link4Pink and The Christie Hospital.

Julie’s nightmare began six months ago. Now approaching the last of six sessions of chemotherapy, the 51-year-old has been chosen to take part in a national trial on radiotherapy.

“Women who have had breast cancer fall into three categories,” explained the Chadderton mother-of-two.

“There are those who need radiotherapy, those who don’t, and a middle group who may or may not. I fall into that group, and if I volunteer to take part in the trials there is a 50/50 chance I will be given radiotherapy.”

A total of 1,600 women have already signed up to the national 10-year trials which split the group in two, with half getting radiotherapy and the other half not, to compare rates of a recurrence of cancer.

“I’m going to go for it. I’d be daft not to after I’ve been through all this,” said Julie from her home in Bardsley Street.

Julie has tremendous support from her husband and their two daughters, Vicky (18) and Emma (23).

She recalled: “I had a little dent on my breast, but thought nothing of it. Then I got a line travelling upwards from the dent.”

When daughter Emma, who is a paediatric nurse, spotted it, she badgered her mother to go to the doctors. Within two weeks, Julie was undergoing tests at Oldham’s Victoria Breast Unit.

“I still wasn’t worried, I thought it was a cyst, but by the end of the day I knew I had cancer,” she added.

Everything galloped ahead from there, and Julie had lymph nodes removed, a mastectomy and a reconstruction.

Because she had very little fat on her back — the usual way of breast reconstruction — surgeon Maria Bramley agreed to take the fat from her stomach, which involved plastic surgery and a 12-hour operation at The Christie Hospital.

Julie is still off work, from Dunlop GRG Holdings at Stake Hill Industrial Estate, Middleton, but said she is desperate to get back to normality as soon as possible. In the meantime, she’s organised a charity comedy night at the Candlelight Club, Oldham, on Saturday, May 26.

Smug Roberts, the man behind the Latics chant “Meat Pie, Sausage Roll” is on the bill and raffle and auction prizes include a signed Manchester United football, United and City shirts and vouchers for the Blue Tiffin, Rio hairstylists and a Morrisons hamper.

Emma and Vicky have also signed up to do a fund-raising skydive over the summer, for which Julie’s work has stumped up the £500 entry fees.

Comedy night tickets, priced £10, are available from Julie on 0161-345 8292.