'I always said that if I got to five years unscathed I would push to give back as much as I could'

As a young woman who never smoked, Janice Flynn from Moynalty was floored when what she had believed to be a mouth ulcer, was confirmed to be oral cancer in 2019.

As a new mum to one-year-old Eva, she was hugely concerned about how this was all going to impact on her daughter but thanks to the incredible staff at St Luke's Hospital, Janice was able to have Eva with her during her six and a half weeks of radiotherapy treatment, something that she said “meant the world” to her.

Now thankfully five years cancer-free, Janice wants to mark the milestone by taking on an 850km walking challenge over six months to give back to St Luke's Hospital and help others on their cancer journey.

“St Luke's holds a special place in our hearts as a family,” said Janice. “Every hospital I encountered along the way was phenomenal. But to be going through radiotherapy and to have my one-year-old with me and to be still able to be a mother, I can't put into words what that meant to me.”

While Janice has done two smaller fundraisers for St Luke's since then, she said: “I always said if I got to five years unscathed I would really push to give back as much as I could.”

She also wanted it to be personal to her journey so she is doing the fundraiser over six months from February to July, representing the six weeks of radiotherapy she under went. She had roughly 35 minutes of radiotherapy a week so to represent this, she has chosen to walk/run 35kms each week over the six months, while also completing the women's mini marathon in June - 850km in total.

“It will challenge me but certainly not even close to the challenge facing so many people embarking on their treatment now. So I have decided to do something small to create a small rainbow in their time of need. Something that will make their journey little easier.”

Janice explained that oral cancer is more common in older people and would most commonly be diagnosed in men over 65 who are smokers. “I was female, 39 and never smoked a day in my life so the diagnosis came as a complete shock,” she recalled.

What Janice believed to be a mouth ulcer turned out to be a tumour on her tongue and she underwent surgery in September 2019 to remove the tumour. Janice had half her tongue removed which had to be rebuilt and she had a full neck dissection to remove some lymph nodes as by the time she was diagnosed, it had unfortunately spread to some lymph nodes in her neck. She had a tracheostomy tube for a week which meant couldn't speak and she was also tube fed during this time.

Following a few weeks recovery and healing, the plan then was that Janice would undergo six and a half weeks radiotherapy.

“Aside from the fear of the journey ahead, I was also petrified of potentially having to leave my daughter during my treatment. However the team at St Luke's Rathgar did everything, and I mean everything, they could to make it as easy for me as possible to still be a mammy. Obviously this was pre-Covid but they made it that I could have my daughter with me everyday, sitting with her at times if I had nobody with me during my treatment.

“Almost all the staff knew her by name and always made us feel we were home from home given the circumstances. Every milestone I hit along the way, they included my little lady in it all. She never felt like she was surrounded by sadness or sickness. As a mammy trying to do everything I could to make life as normal as I could, it just made our journey that little bit easier. There are no words to express how grateful we will always be for that.

“It is so important to say that from my diagnosis to the care I'm still receiving in all the hospitals involved, I have been and continue to be looked after with such love and compassion that is quite simply immeasurable.”

Since finishing her treatment, Janice and her partner were overjoyed to welcome a second baby girl, Robyn into family. “We were so blessed. I wasn't sure we would be able to have another child so we are very lucky.”

Eva is now seven years old and in senior infants in Moynalty NS, while Robyn is two and will turn three in May. Janice also has a step daughter, Lucie (15), who she said has been an incredible support to her and is also taking part in the fundraiser.

“To us St Luke's are and will always be like part of our family. Thank you to all the team for allowing me to continue being a mammy to the little lady that gave me the strength to fight every single day. I'm very careful to be sensitive to families out there who sadly haven't had their desired outcome with themselves or a family member and my thoughts are always with them but to everyone out there facing the uncertainty ahead and particularly all the mammies, there can be life after cancer and plenty of memories to be made.”

To make a donation to Janice's fundraiser, click here

“If everyone who reads this even donated a euro, it would make such a difference,” said Janice. She is also encouraging anyone else would like to do the mini-marathon with them for St Luke’s to get in touch.