LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE
Pick Me Up !|September 15, 2022
Helen Prior, 65, from London, found that laughter really is the best medicine...
KEZIA REYNOLDS
LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE

Rearranging sunglasses on my face, for the hundredth time, it was frustrating.

It was not a wonky fashion statement-I was trying to hide my face.

How long do cold sores last? I thought.

I had a huge one across my nose and cheek.

After many long months of enduring the huge sore across my face, I considered getting it checked.

So in 2012 I made an appointment at a skin clinic.

I wasn't convinced anything was wrong, but I didn't want to look ugly! I had my consultation and was shocked that I was called back a few days later.

I was always a strong woman, and tried to see the fun in life.

'It's only a cold sore, I quipped.

'No, it's not,' the doctor told me.

'You have skin cancer, Helen.

I liked his honesty, but it was a shock to know I had a form of skin cancer called basal cancer.

I could see how upset my husband Peter was.

He wasn't an emotional man but I could see tears in his eyes.

'I don't want to lose you, he told me.

I had a friend who had had this exact cancer, and her face had been left all squashed.

I used to be a beautiful woman, I thought.

This story is from the September 15, 2022 edition of Pick Me Up !.

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This story is from the September 15, 2022 edition of Pick Me Up !.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

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