WHEN grandmother Ann Wilson was diagnosed as having cancer last year she feared for the worst.

But following an intensive course of treatment, which included the care and support of Macmillan nurses, she has managed to beat the disease.

Now the 51-year-old is recovering, and spending time with her grand-daughter Jessica, two something Ann once feared that she might never do again.

"I used to feel surprised when I woke up every morning and found I was still alive," said Ann, who was diagnosed as having non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in March last year.

"I think the secret is not to worry too much, and keep your sense of humour.

"I found that I laughed and cried within seconds."

Ann, of Chicory Close, Pembroke Park, admitted that before her brush with the disease, she wasn't aware of the work of Macmillan nurses.

Now she fully endorses the Swindon Cancer Appeal, which has raised more than £300,000 to provide more nurses for the borough.

"I had never experienced anything like cancer before, and their friendship and care made me feel so much more secure," she said.

"It was so wonderful to talk to someone after having had all these needles stuck in me."

Doctors at the Great Western Hospital diagnosed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which affects the lymphatic system after Ann com-plained of pain in the left side of her body.

A scan revealed a tumour in her brain stem.

In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cells in the lymphatic system become abnormal, dividing and growing without any order or control.

A course of chemotherapy followed, plus an intensive course of radio-therapy, which meant travelling to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford every day for six weeks.

The treatment made Ann feel sick, and she lost her hair.

But she has just been told that it has paid off.

Now, Ann, who has three children - Lindsay, 24, Daniel, 20, and Jessica's mother Joanna, 21, is looking forward to returning to her job as an administrator at BP LPG UK in Purton.

"My body is still a bit slow but I feel fantastic now because my hair has started growing back," she said.

The Evening Advertiser backed Swindon Cancer Appeal plans to raise £600,000 by 2006.

It will pay for two Macmillan nurses and a specialist for the Great Western Hospital and the Prospect Hospice.