In memory of Joyce Concannon

I'd like to take some time to outline my mother’s illness and the struggles she went through to portray just how brave she was the whole way through her fight.

She was diagnosed with melanoma in 2006 and breast cancer is 2007. She had the mole removed and went through a full mastectomy of the left breast and six months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. During her time receiving post-operation treatment my mum went back to work full-time. On mother’s day 2009, my mum went back into hospital to have reconstruction surgery on her left breast and returned to full-time work within weeks.

Just as our family were reaching the five year 'all clear' mark, the breast cancer returned in September 2011 when she stopped being able to eat or drink and discovered that a lump was growing in her right-side breast tissue and crushing her esophagus. She endured weeks of hospital stays and radiotherapy treatment while being fed constantly through a drip via her nose. In this time we discovered that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

Our mam never refused to give up and continued to work throughout her treatment yet again. It seemed as if continuing to lead a busy life helped my mam fight against this terrible illness as it appeared for a few weeks that she was on the mend. Unfortunately, we quickly found out that the cancer had began to spread through her lymph nodes and developed further into her stomach.

On Wednesday 28th March 2012, our mam was diagnosed with having terminal cancer and was since cared for by the wonderful staff at Helen McArdle Care in North Tyneside. On Friday April 27th 2012, Joyce lost her battle to breast cancer.

While fighting this terminal illness she still didn't want to show anyone how much pain she was in, she always had a smile on her face and was kept company 24/7 by amazing family and friends.

Joyce's funeral was attended by over 200 members of family and friends and was a fitting celebration of her life. For those of you that have been with us on our journey, you'll all remember the hard work you all did to help us raise £6000 for Breast Cancer Campaign and spur me onto complete the Great North Run 2012.

Since my main fundraising efforts ended I have relocated to Aberdeen and I've felt a big void in my support towards Breast Cancer Campaign so I have decided to continue to back such an amazing charity through various goals and events to be announced.

I have opened this Pink Ribbon Tribute Fund to connect all my family and friends and share my journey with you all with the hope of growing our continued effort in keeping my mam’s memory alive and funding vital research into Breast Cancer.

BIG BIG BIG special thanks to all of you for your donations over the past couple of years, I aim to work very hard to raise even more money for Breast Cancer Campaign!

Stay tuned!! Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx