Midcheshire Independent Issue 184

13 OCTOBER 2025 Visit our website: www.independentnewspapers.co.uk allowmembers to support one another with their conditions. I am really pleased how the group has grown, and wel- come that it’s been recognised by the trust. “This is about bringing local community together, to support, learn and grow. It is very rewarding, and I have had really positive feedback. We have had people coming who have been there since the first session and the group is growing in numbers each month.” Supported by Asthma + Lung UK, the group is part of the charity’s nationwide Breathe Easy network, which empowers people living with respiratory conditions to lead healthier, more active, and fulfilling lives. The free session runs on the first Thursday of every month at Macclesfield Leisure Centre. A ‘Singing for Lung Health’ session follows the support group which is run by respiratory nurse and singing enthusiast Grace Sagun, with evidence suggesting singing improves lung function and emotional wellbeing. For more information on the sessions, either as an attendee or speaker: contact Jane at jane.kent4@nhs.net or by calling 07912547227. Independent HEALTH & WELLBEING ANN Lally is looking for- ward to being involved in her first grandchild Arthur’s life for as long as possible. The 69-year-old former childminder is doing well – a year after she was told she could only have six to 12 months to live after being diagnosed with advanced pan- creatic cancer that had spread to her lungs and liver. Ann had been on treatment for a few weeks when her son Michael told her he and his wife were expecting their first child. She says: “I can’t put how I feel into words. I’ve been given this extra time and I’m treas- uring every single second of it. “In addition to spending lots of time with family and friends, I’m moving house, have been on two holidays, and have got a big family hol- iday to look forward to.” Ann, who has two grown-up children, had six months of fortnightly chemotherapy, which she finished in Febru- ary this year. She now comes back to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, the specialist cancer centre in Manchester, where she was treated, every three months for a check-up. Her tumours have shrunk by 42 per cent since she started treatment in July last year, and her latest scan shows that they’re still stable. Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst survival rates of any cancer. According to Cancer Research UK, only 10 per cent of people with a diagnosis like Ann’s will still be alive a year after they were diagnosed. Ann was diagnosed in June 2024, just three months after her husband Mike, who she’d been with since she was 16, died from a heart attack. He had also been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in September 2023, but because of a lung condi- tion called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, he couldn’t have any treatment. Ann says: “I didn’t have any symptoms other than a tummy ache, so to be told that I not only had cancer, but the same type as my husband was both shocking and devastating. “My kids came with me to my first appointment, where they heard that I might only have six months to live. They’d just lost their dad, and now they were faced with losing me as well; it was almost unbearable. “My children Becky and Michael kept me going. I wanted to keep things as normal as possible for them after all they’d been through. I decided right at the beginning that I was going to be positive, carry on as normal, and enjoy my life, and that is what I have been doing ever since.” “The chemo I had made me feel a bit sick, but then they took one of the components out and I was fine then,” she says. “I came into The Christie and was hooked to a drip of chemotherapy, which later came home with me. Then, a couple of days later, the dis- trict nurse came to take the bottle off. I just tried to get on with life as normal, and even put tinsel around it on Christmas Day.” Dr Richard Hubner, Ann’s consultant at The Christie, says: “It’s wonderful to see that Ann has had such a good response to treatment and that she’s been able to meet her first grandchild. “Being able to help people reach these milestones is a rewarding part of my job.” “Sadly, not everyone will have as good an outcome as Ann. Pancreatic cancer is very aggressive and is often diag- nosed at a late stage, making it difficult to treat. “This is why survival rates are so low. In recent years, we’ve seen more research to try and find new treatments for the disease, which is encouraging to see. Extra time means Ann meets her first grandchild Happy family: Ann with her children Becky and Michael, his wife and their newborn baby Arthur (Photo credit: The Christie) “As with all cancers, being diagnosed as early as possi- ble is always best. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, indigestion, unex- plained weight loss, and a change in your bowel habits. “A full list of symptoms is available on the NHS website, and I’d encourage anyone who is worried to go and see their GP as soon as possible.” Helping people breathe easy Support: The ‘Breathe Easy’ group (Photo credit: East Cheshire NHS Trust) PEOPLE in East Cheshire living with respiratory conditions have been ben- efiting from a dedicated support group for over a year, thanks to the efforts of Respiratory Nurse Spe- cialist Jane Kent. Jane, who has been part of East Cheshire NHS Trust’s Integrated Respiratory Team since 2016, relaunched the group after identifying a gap in community support during the Covid pandemic. Since its launch in July 2024 and running at Mac- clesfield Leisure Centre, the ‘Breathe Easy’ group has grown into a valued com- munity resource, offering a safe and welcoming space for people to share experiences, access expert advice, and sup- port one another in managing their conditions. Her efforts in starting and running the group in her own time and as a volunteer, saw Jane recognised by the trust with a Colleague of the Month award for showing commitment and dedication to patients feeling isolated or limited by their disease. She says: “It’s been wonder- ful to see the group develop over the past 12 months and

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