Amanda Boylan

I’m fundraising for the Irish Cancer Society Colour Dash to support my daughter,children and young adults affected by cancer in Ireland

I am taking part in this event to support my beautiful 15 year-old daughter Muireann who has been on her own cancer journey and to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society “It was such a shock to our family when Murieann received the diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We had no idea what the diagnosis meant, how the treatment would affect her or what this meant for her future. As a parent, I was scared but my daughter has shown me what determination, belief and love can do and she is now well on the road to recovery. It is a miracle and that is why I want to do this activity and raise funds”, stated Amanada.

Please donate to this great charity- and read Muireann’s own personal account- you will be really helping her and others like her- Thank you.

Here is Muireann’s story….

“After thinking it was just a pulled muscle or fatty tissue I was wrong. On the 14th of December I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It all started when I was constantly feeling tired with no energy, loosing weight fast, trouble eating, terrible night sweats and then noticing several lumps on my neck. I was never sick growing up so my family knew there was something wrong with the way I was acting- I could no longer play GAA and Camogie as I had no energy. My mam knew it was time to visit a GP and I had a blood test - two days later they advised that I need to go to Temple Street Childrens Hospital because my blood results were very abnormal and I was severely anaemic. After being admitted I underwent scans and several tests and discovered I being transferred to Crumlin hospital but before transfer a biopsy on my neck revealed I had stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was told i am going to have to complete 6 cycles of chemotherapy. My treatment started on the 16th December. 

Finding out  I had cancer was a shock because most people don’t think young people would ever get cancer - you only really hear of old people getting it or people who smoke etc. I was also angry because I thought why do I have it, what did I do to get it and annoyed and upset that my appearance was going to change. When I started to loose my hair, eyebrows and lashes that was when it really hit me what was actually happening, that I actually have to go through chemo and I do have cancer. Although when i started to loose my hair and stuff I was really upset because I loved my hair but I knew there was nothing I could do if i wanted to get better I was gonna have to go through chemo. 

I think most people who have gone through chemo can agree that loosing your hair is probably the hardest part - well it was for me was anyway. I can thankfully say my treatment is going well and the doctors and nurses are very happy with my results but it is hard going through chemo there is so much more stuff involved in it than what you think like a lot of different tablets which have copious amounts of side effects. I’m almost done my treatment and thankfully I don’t have to go through any radiotherapy. I can’t wait to get back with my friends, go on holiday and go back to my sports etc. I’m so grateful to have met such wonderful people in the hospital especially in Johns ward. They’re honestly fantastic and always put a smile on your  face. One thing I can say is never take things for granted because you don’t know what’s around the corner and if you notice an unusual lump please go get it checked it may be nothing but it’s better to be safe than sorry”.