Strathaven nurse (29) will marry this year after cancer op

Mar 4 2010 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A YOUNG county woman who has battled cancer is set to get married in the summer.

Strathaven resident Angela Potter (29) will wed her long-term partner Robin Foster on Friday, May 28 - eight months after doctors found a malignant tumour during a routine operation.

The former Strathaven Academy pupil told the Advertiser this week how doctors discovered cancer during a procedure to remove her appendix.

She explained: “In September last year, I ended up in hospital for the second time in a year with severe stomach pains and vomiting.

“Six months before, I was sent home as doctors told me it was my gall bladder and it would be fine. This time, however, it was discovered that I had appendicitis so the doctors removed my appendix.

“A week later, I had a phone call asking me to visit the hospital. I assumed the staff wanted to check my surgical scar just to make sure it was healing.

“However, they told that they had found a malignant tumour at the end of my appendix.”

What followed for Angela was two months of scans, X-rays, hospital trips and visits to numerous specialists.

Angela, who is also a Marie Curie Cancer Care nurse, continued: “The doctors told me that it was very rare to find a tumour where they did, and they were worried it may have come off a larger tumour. Fortunately it hadn’t and there weren’t any tumours elsewhere. But that in itself caused more confusion.

“A week before Christmas, the doctors recommended I go through an operation to remove two swollen lymph glands near where the tumour was, along with the right side of my bowel and my colon.

“Depending on how the operation goes, if they find any more cancer, I’ll have to go through chemotherapy.”

Angela will go through the operation next Friday, March 12, but remains upbeat and confident about it.

She said: “I’m pretty positive because I deal with this kind of thing through work; it wasn’t as scary for me. I’m familiar with the technical terms.

“Myself and Robin have just been making jokes about the possibility of me being a bald bride if I have to go through chemo, but we are upbeat about the future.” The couple have been together for eight years and will marry at Hamilton Registry Office.

Meanwhile, Angela’s 59-year-old father, James Potter, will run the Edinburgh Half Marathon on May 23 to raise money for Marie Curie. He will be joined by his son Kevin, his best friend Charlie Cybulski, and Angela’s uncle, Scott Potter.

Angela added: “My dad is very fit for his age and he has been doing boxing training since he was 17. The whole family has a positive focus at the moment, and hopefully their charity run will help other families in the same situation.”

To donate to James and others taking part in the half marathon visit www.justgiving.com and search for ‘James Rocky Potter’.