A former breast cancer patient has backed a £25,000 fundraising campaign to buy a vital piece of equipment after seeing first-hand the difference it could make.
Sarah Tarrant, a former nurse at West Suffolk Hospital, has pledged her support to My WiSH Charity’s ‘Love Your Nodes’ appeal to buy a Sentimag machine to help with the removal of lymph nodes.
Now in remission, Sarah has recalled how the machine would have helped her after she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago.
Sarah said: “Removing some of my nodes actually caused me more problems than the breast cancer operation.
“I know from my own experience that the Sentimag machine will allow for more minimal intervention which will help so many people and lessen the chance of post-surgery complications.”
The campaign, which is run in partnership with the Bury Free Press, has already received great backing from the generous local community with the Sentimag machine giving surgeons a greater idea of what lymph nodes to remove to ensure the cancer has not spread further.
In addition to fundraising, My WiSH Charity want to use the appeal to raise awareness of breast cancer.
This is something that Sarah, 58, is also supporting after also using her own experiences while working as a practice nurse at Siam Surgery in Sudbury.
The mother-of-two, who described her husband Martin and her two sons as her ‘rock’ explained: “With my work, and given what I have been through, I often use my own personal experiences as a tool to urge people to come forward and have a mammogram.
“It is so important to catch it early as the risk of the cancer spreading is reduced, as well as the risk of needing your nodes removed.
“After I read about the campaign, I knew I wanted to pledge my support.
“The more we can do to minimise the complications during what is already a difficult time, the better.”
The appeal has also been recently supported by a donation from St Edmundsbury Mayor Julia Wakelam.
Anyone interested in finding out how they can support the campaign, should contact the fundraising team on 01284 712952 or email fundraising@wsh.nhs.uk.
To donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/loveyournodes or you can text to donate by texting NODE16 £3 or the amount you wish to give to 70070.
If you have any questions about fundraising, any of the events mentioned above or how you can help the hospital, please contact fundraising@wsh.nhs.uk or call 01284 712952
