When I read that Lola in EastEnders was going to be diagnosed with a brain tumour as part of her new storyline, I was pleased. Delighted, in fact.
Delighted that awareness was being spread about the disease that kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.
Because despite the fact that brain tumours have taken the lives of more children than leukaemia, more men under the age of 70 than prostate cancer and more women under the age of 35 than breast cancer, the general public don’t know enough about them.
I certainly didn’t when I was diagnosed back in 2015.
Earlier that year, I’d got a new job as Head of English in a special needs school, I’d married my boyfriend Luke and we’d spent six weeks over the summer travelling around Mexico and America as one last big adventure before settling down to start a family.