I'm not going just yet

She has an infectious humour, a hearty laugh and can fill a room with her cheerful personality.

Anyone meeting her would be staggered to learn that she has terminal ovarian cancer.

Beryl has been described as one in a million she is a fighter who came back from the brink of death because she steadfastly refused to be beaten by cancer.

"My cancer is there, but it's not a part of me, and doesn't belong to me," she said. "Whatever you do you mustn't let it get hold of your mind. If you do you've had it."

Eighteen months ago, Beryl, 66, believed she had three months to live. Doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital now replaced by the Great Western Hospital discovered she had ovarian cancer, which had spread to her bowel, womb and pelvis.

Beryl, of Wheeler Avenue, Swindon, had been suffering from agonising stomach pains. She'd had mild pain for some time, but put this down to back problems.

But an X-ray revealed the source of the problem was far more serious. A tumour was growing on the outside of her bowel, causing excruciating pain. When doctors broke the news that it could be cancer, Beryl's decided she wanted to know everything.

A five-hour operation was carried out which revealed the full extent of the cancer. The tumours had grown in her ovaries and spread to her womb, bowel and pelvis. Her bowel was removed, and a colostomy bag fitted.

Eighteen months earlier, a routine smear test had shown abnormal cells, but further tests revealed no sign of cancer.

"The trouble was that the cancer was on the outside of the organs, not inside," said Beryl. "They had to operate to find out exactly how bad it was."

Beryl believes her cancer was not diagnosed earlier because she thought the pain was caused by her back problems, which began when she fell off a ladder aged 21.

Beryl has a high pain threshold, and is not someone who likes bothering the doctor. But if she had put up with the pain any longer, she probably would have died.

Following her diagnosis, Beryl underwent chemotherapy. But the side-effects made her so ill she had to be rushed to the Prospect Hospice in Wroughton. "I was so sick and dehydrated," she said, "I couldn't even keep water down."

She spent three weeks at the Prospect, where she was given a blood transfusion and put on a saline drip. At the time, Beryl thought she was not going to make it through. But despite the side-effects, she vowed to continue with the chemotherapy. "If I start something, I have to finish it," she said. "I wanted to keep going for as long as I could."

Beryl's courage paid off, and after three months the chemotherapy slowed the growth of the tumours. Beryl's cancer appeared to be under control, with only minimal growth picked up by regular scans at the Great Western Hospital. But just before Christmas she began getting pains in her back, and a scan revealed the cancer had spread to the base of her spine.

Radiotherapy followed at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. The treatment stopped the pain, and there were no side effects.

Doctors have now done everything they can to stop the growth of the cancer, which is spreading at a slow rate.

Beryl is not angry or bitter about her condition, and says it has made her value every single day.

Beryl and her husband Bert, 65, still enjoy holidays in Eastbourne together.

She also enjoys knitting, sewing, cooking and has taught herself to use a computer.

"I don't think about my illness," she said. "I've always been an upbeat person, and this won't change that. Everybody has to go sometime, some go early, some go late. I'm not going yet though, I've got too much to do, and I won't give up fighting until I take my last breath."

Beryl's fighting spirit has helped Bert to come to terms with his wife's condition.

"When Beryl was diagnosed I just went to pieces," he said. "It's hard to imagine what life would be like without your wife.

"But her attitude has helped me and we enjoy every day we have."

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