Leader: Special story of Maggie’s cancer care

TODAY, as part of the support that The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday are giving to the Maggie’s cancer caring centre appeal, we carry the moving story of 42-year-old Lisa Stephenson.

She led a busy and demanding life as a successful businesswoman and mother-of-two when, out of the blue, she was told that she had cancer. Lisa was diagnosed with myeloma – a type of blood cancer – in April and has had to undergo gruelling chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the treatment has failed to knock the disease back and she now faces the prospect of more intensive treatment in the new year.

Her life has changed dramatically in a short space of time. After a recommendation she called in at the Maggie’s centre. She has, she says, received huge support for herself and her family at the most difficult time in her life. Now she has thrown herself into helping the fund-raising campaign to help plug a £50,000 funding gap at the cancer caring centre in Edinburgh.

Separately, we have given over the Platform slot in the heart of the opinion section of today’s paper to an article by Carol Scott, Welfare Rights Advisor for Maggie’s Glasgow. She tells of many cancer sufferers overwhelmed with anxiety over their finances. She cites a case where Maggie’s was able to provide guidance on securing a Disability Living Allowance payment and help towards heating and clothing.

There can be few more deserving causes than one that works at so many levels to provide both material and psychological support at a most critical time in people’s lives. This is what makes the work of the Maggie’s centres so special – and so vital for many.