Grimsby woman diagnosed with breast cancer at height of Covid-19 pandemic 'giving back' to those who cared for her
A Grimsby woman who was left "heartbroken" after being diagnosed with breast cancer at the height of the pandemic is giving back to the staff at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital who helped her in her time of need.
Mum-of-two Jenny Doughty, 51, was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2020. She had had no symptoms, but a conversation with a friend who had found a cyst encouraged her to check herself, and she discovered a lump.
At the time, the second national Covid-19 lockdown had just been announced, and because Jenny's husband had the virus, it meant she was unable to visit a doctor for ten days.
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Speaking to Grimsby Live, Jenny said: "I couldn't get to the doctors until those ten days were up, but when I did, they said they'd get me an appointment at the Pink Rose Suite straight away.
"I had a mammogram and biopsy there and then, waited a week for my results and found out, unfortunately, that I had breast cancer. I was just heartbroken. It was an unbelievable, unimaginable feeling."
Jenny underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, the first of which was on December 23, 2020 and the second on Christmas Eve. In May, she had an operation to remove the tumour, before undergoing 14 rounds of hormone therapy.
"I couldn't see any of my family at the time because of the lockdown, and my husband couldn't come in with me during chemotherapy because they'd stopped people sitting with you," she said.
In October last year, Jenny discovered a lesion on her nose, and was diagnosed with skin cancer. She is currently awaiting an operation to have the lesion removed.
Nearly four years on from her breast cancer diagnosis, Jenny - with the help of daughters Courtney and Alisha - is holding a coffee and cake morning at her home on Sunday, October 13 to raise money for the Pink Rose Suite and Amethyst ward at Grimsby's Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital.
She said: "To me, it's a cause close to my heart. I can't fault any of my treatment or the ladies on the ward and the suite, and I'd just like to give something back. Rather than just raising money for the Pink Rose Suite, I wanted to give back to the Amethyst ward too because that's where people have chemotherapy, so I thought it would help a lot more people suffering from cancer."
You can donate to Jenny's fundraiser online by clicking here.