My Fight, My Hope, My Life:
Charlotte’s Journey with Brain Cancer
Told in the first person by Charlotte’s mother
18.2.97 - 24.2.16
Charlotte’s Diary Living Around Medication and Treatment
7th November 2013
I'm so tired of having to take 50 pills a day. My whole day seems to revolve around medication.
Just four months ago, I had no idea that this monster, as I often call it, was growing in my brain. Now, everything about my daily life seems to be dictated by it.
I'm becoming increasingly concerned about my vision. It feels as though there is a layer of cling film covering my eyes, and it's getting harder and harder to see clearly. I've mentioned it to someone, and they said they would keep an 'eye' on it! Joking apart, steroids have been mentioned, but I really can't face taking them again. The weight gain seems almost immediate.
I'm also having to take potassium tablets, which I'm finding really difficult. They are dissolved in water & the taste is vile that they make me gag. It's so bad that I've made everyone in my family taste it so they can understand what I have to put up with every day!
Another thing I'm worried about is that they've stopped my Temozolomide chemotherapy because my platelet levels were so low.
They keep reassuring me that radiotherapy is far more important than chemotherapy at the moment. I suppose they know what they're doing, but I can't help questioning it. Sometimes I wonder whether they're all reading from the same script!
It's exhausting. Fifty pills a day, constant treatment, worrying about my eyesight, struggling with medication and never really getting a break from thinking about cancer.
Four months ago, I was just a teenager getting on with life. Now, my days revolve around trying to manage a brain tumour and everything that comes with it.
The reality behind Charlotte's words
When I read Charlotte's diary now, I'm struck by how much of her teenage life had been taken over by medication and treatment.
Fifty pills a day. Concerns about losing her sight. The side effects of steroids. The struggle to swallow medication. Chemotherapy was stopped because her platelet levels were too low.
These weren't occasional inconveniences. They were part of her everyday life at just 16 years old.
And yet, even in the middle of all this, Charlotte's humour shines through. Making everyone in the family taste the awful potassium drink is such a little glimpse of the girl she was.
I share these entries because I want people to see the reality of living with a brain tumour, not just hear the words 'brain cancer' and imagine they understand.
This is why we continue to fundraise through Charlotte's BAG. We want to support research into better treatments, better outcomes and more hope for families facing this devastating disease.
If Charlotte's story touches you, please consider donating. Every contribution helps us continue the work in her memory.
Sixteen years old. Fifty pills a day. A life that should have been filled with teenage adventures, not a daily battle with a brain tumour.
Please help us make a difference for the next generation.
We are a self funding charity. No overheads, salaries, expenses or merchandise.
https://t.co/qGIjBOl3aq
My Fight, My Hope, My Life:
Charlotte’s Journey with Brain Cancer
Told in the first person by Charlotte’s mother
18.2.97 - 24.2.16
Charlotte’s Diary The First Few Days of November 2013
The first few days of November have been a real struggle.
I needed to have both a platelet transfusion and a blood transfusion. The platelet transfusion was relatively quick, but the blood transfusion took three hours.
My left arm has also been hurting. Nobody seems particularly concerned about it, so hopefully it is nothing to worry about.
I've been experiencing quite a lot of nausea and vomiting, which has made things even more difficult. One positive is that I'm now completely off the morphine.
I also have quite a lot of moles, particularly across my back. One mole on the left-hand side of the lower nape of my neck has started to bleed. This is an area that falls within the field being targeted by my radiotherapy.
There always seems to be something else to deal with. Just when you think you've got one problem under control, another appears.
At this point, my days are increasingly dominated by treatment, hospital visits and the physical effects of everything my body is going through.
I'm only 16, and this is not what life is supposed to look like.
Why I share these diary entries
Reading Charlotte's words now, I am reminded of just how much she endured at such a young age. Blood and platelet transfusions, nausea, vomiting, pain and the effects of radiotherapy were becoming part of her everyday life.
These are the realities behind a brain tumour diagnosis that people don't always see.
I share Charlotte's journey because I want people to understand that brain tumours affect so much more than the tumour itself. They affect the whole person and the lives of everyone who loves them.
This is why we continue to raise money through Charlotte's BAG. We want to help fund research into better treatments and give other families more hope.
A self funding charity 100% of every donation going to research in Charlotte's LAB
https://t.co/qGIjBOl3aq
Charlotte
18.2.97 - 24.2.16
Brain Tumour
Diagnosis to death 951 days
Age 19
When people look at headstones, they often focus on the dates of birth and death.
But the most important part is the dash in the middle.
An entire life everything they were, everything they did reduced to a one-inch line carved in stone.
https://t.co/qGIjBOl3aq
A self funding charity.