Devastated by cancer aged only 24 – how Claire defied the odds to have twin boys

CLAIRE Burrell was just at the start of married life when she received the devastating news she had cancer.

Aged just 24, she was quickly forced to face up to the fact that the treatment she needed to survive Hodgkin’s lymphoma would affect her ability to have a family in future.

Now, after successful IVF treatment, she is the proud mother of twin boys – and has helped make sure other young people stricken by cancer get the help they need to face the disease and see there is life after a diagnosis.

Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, currently marking their 15th anniversary after the first site opened in Edinburgh, also provides support and advice for children and young adults who are affected by the disease, which is still seen by many as something which only affects older people.

Mrs Burrell said the news that she had cancer was “a total bolt out of the blue”.

“After the diagnosis, I was looking back and thinking were there signs I could have picked up earlier,” she said.

“But it was a very gradual decline. My breathing had got worse over a long period of time. I’d probably had the cancer a year or so before I was diagnosed.”

Mrs Burrell, from Cramond in Edinburgh, had been married to husband Mark for less than a year before she was diagnosed.

She then had to undergo intensive chemotherapy over six months, followed by a month of radiotherapy.

But a follow-up scan showed that the disease had started to increase again and the initial chemotherapy hadn’t worked.

She was told she needed treatment with high-dose chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant to help her beat the disease.

“When I relapsed, I’d been attending a support group with other patients going through treatments and one of those treatments was stem-cell transplant and high-dose chemo,” she said. “I knew two other women who had had that treatment, so I knew that it was going to stop my ovaries working and send me into menopause.”

Counselling for cancer patients facing fertility issues was not available at the time, but because of her knowledge Mrs Burrell, now 40, was able to push for IVF treatment ahead of the chemotherapy that would rob her of the ability to have children naturally.

Her eggs were harvested, fertilised and frozen for future use. Within a couple of years, she was told she could consider trying to have a baby.

“But I left it longer than that as I wasn’t happy with it being so soon,” she said.

“My treatment finished in December 1996 and I had my first attempt at IVF in January 2004.”

She successfully conceived on her second attempt at IVF. “When I found out I was pregnant it was a complete shock. I never believed that it would work,” she said.

Twins Euan and Sean were born four weeks early after being induced due to signs she was suffering pre-eclampsia.

But they were well and now, aged six, they often visit Maggie’s to help give hope to other patients going through the same issues.

With Mrs Burrell’s help, the support group she attended moved under the management of Maggie’s and now helps give emotional support for younger patients with cancer. She said in the past the needs of younger people with cancer had been totally overlooked.

“The fact that more people survive now has forced a change, but the medical profession 15 years ago were just trying to cure it. They were not thinking about what your quality of life is going to be like. That has become more important as more people are surviving,” she said. “The fact that you have suddenly become aware of your own mortality at such as young age is a very difficult thing to deal with.”

Andrew Anderson, head of Maggie’s Centre in Edinburgh, said cancer was uncommon in younger people and this made it seem more shocking.

“It seems like an untimely diagnosis for someone in their teens or early 20s to develop cancer because it is still perceived as a disease of middle or old age,” he said. “It is in many ways more shocking because people aren’t established in life with relationships, with studies, with work and often they are finding their own identity. At that time a cancer diagnosis can shake them up even more.”

Mr Anderson said, through their group for young people, they helped provide mutual support with everyone helping each other, alongside the professional care from Maggie’s.

• Maggie’s Cancer Centres are celebrating their 15th birthday. The first centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996 and there are now 15 beautifully designed centres either established or in development across the UK. From the Highlands to London, Maggie’s help thousands of people find clarity and calmness in the isolation of their cancer journey through a bespoke and specialised programme. Help celebrate their 15th year and support the care that helps thousands of Scots:

TEXT: Donate a one-off gift of £1.50 by texting MAGG15 to 70070

PHONE: [phone] and quote Scotsman Christmas Appeal

ONLINE: visit www.maggiescentres.org/scotsmanappeal