Latest / The Letterbox Podcast / Dear Younger Me | A Letter About a Rare Tumour Diagnosis, Amputation & Finding Strength

Transcript

Dear Younger Me | A Letter About a Rare Tumour Diagnosis, Amputation & Finding Strength · The Letterbox Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome back to the Letterbox Forecast.
• 0:02
  I'm Lucy. And this is the place where real
• 0:05
  people get to share the letters they've written about the things
• 0:08
  that mean the most to them. Today's letter comes from Fran.
• 0:14
  In 2020 she was diagnosed with desmoid tumours which led to her
• 0:19
  having a leg amputation in 2023. Although the tumours came back
• 0:26
  three months later and she does continue to battle with them
• 0:29
  today. She is now a disability advocate
• 0:32
  and shares a lot of her life and the reality of living with
• 0:36
  Desmond tumours online. Before I press play on her
• 0:40
  letter, I have one tiny favour to ask of you, and that is to
• 0:45
  press the follow button wherever you are listening.
• 0:48
  And then if you enjoy the podcast, please give it a
• 0:51
  rating. It does so much and it will send
• 0:54
  Fran's letter all around the world to people who maybe
• 0:57
  wouldn't have otherwise heard it.
• 0:59
  It helps the podcast grow and it really does mean so much to me
• 1:02
  and all the people who've written the letters.
• 1:04
  So if you have just pressed the follow button, thank you so
• 1:09
  much. But now it's time to hear from
• 1:14
  Fran. This is her letter.
• 1:21
  A letter to the version of me before my diagnosis.
• 1:28
  Dear younger me, I know you're terrified.
• 1:32
  You think your life is over. You've just been given a life
• 1:36
  changing diagnosis. These tumours only affect around
• 1:42
  one in 5 to 6 million people each year.
• 1:47
  You're rare and right now that doesn't feel special.
• 1:52
  It feels frightening. It feels unfair.
• 1:56
  You don't understand why this is happening to you and you have no
• 2:00
  idea what your future is going to look like.
• 2:04
  You'll spend years trying to get rid of the tumours.
• 2:08
  You'll go through chemotherapy, surgeries, hospital appointments
• 2:13
  and scans, setbacks and uncertainty.
• 2:19
  Eventually, you'll face something you never imagined
• 2:21
  possible amputation. You'll wonder why your body has
• 2:29
  betrayed you. You'll look at yourself and
• 2:33
  wonder how you can possibly recognise the person staring
• 2:37
  back at you. You'll spend time grieving the
• 2:39
  person that you used to be. The girl who played netball,
• 2:44
  lacrosse, and loved all sports. The girl who took her body for
• 2:50
  granted because she never had a reason not to.
• 2:57
  That's OK. She deserves to be missed.
• 3:01
  You are allowed to grieve her. You don't have to pretend that
• 3:07
  losing parts of your old life doesn't hurt.
• 3:12
  There'll be days when you feel angry, days when you're
• 3:15
  exhausted from explaining yourself, days when you'll wish
• 3:18
  people could understand without you having to try and find the
• 3:21
  words. People won't always understand.
• 3:26
  Some people may judge you, some people may leave, and that will
• 3:31
  hurt. But some people will surprise
• 3:35
  you with how deeply they love you.
• 3:39
  You'll discover that the people who truly matter won't see you
• 3:43
  as broken or less of a person. They'll just see you.
• 3:48
  They'll stand beside you on the difficult days and celebrate
• 3:52
  with you on the good ones. You'll push yourself out of your
• 3:57
  comfort zone and adapt quickly to your new life.
• 3:59
  You'll do things you never thought you'd have to learn to
• 4:02
  do again. And eventually, they just become
• 4:05
  normal. You'll learn that it's OK to ask
• 4:09
  for help, that independence doesn't mean doing everything
• 4:13
  alone. You'll learn about prosthetics,
• 4:18
  ability aids, and discover that there are so many ways to keep
• 4:23
  doing the things you love. Your life might look different,
• 4:27
  but different doesn't mean smaller.
• 4:32
  You'll discover that joy still exists.
• 4:35
  You'll find new passions, new opportunities, and new reasons
• 4:40
  to be excited about the future. And yes, you might not be tumour
• 4:45
  free, but the hardest chapters can still make room for
• 4:48
  beautiful moments. One day you'll stop wishing you
• 4:55
  could be the person you were before.
• 4:58
  Not because you stopped missing her, but because you finally
• 5:03
  make peace with becoming someone new.
• 5:07
  You'll realise that your diagnosis is something that
• 5:10
  happened to you, not something that gets to define you.
• 5:15
  You won't be defeated by your tumour diagnosis.
• 5:19
  You'll become a voice for people living with desmoed tumours.
• 5:23
  You'll share the realities of life as an amputee, the
• 5:28
  challenges, the adaptations, the frustrations, and the victories.
• 5:35
  You'll talk about the things you once wished someone had told
• 5:38
  you, and that will matter more than you know.
• 5:43
  If I could give you one thing, it's this.
• 5:48
  You're about to become someone you're incredibly proud of.
• 5:52
  You don't know it yet, but there is so much life waiting for you.
• 5:57
  Keep going. Love the version of you that
• 6:01
  made it. Wow, thank you so much, Fran.
• 6:07
  I think it was all the more special to hear you read it
• 6:10
  yourself. I know how much that letter
• 6:12
  meant to you. I know how much it's going to
• 6:14
  mean to people who hear it as well.
• 6:17
  It's certainly stirred up a lot of emotion in me and truly has
• 6:21
  taught me about something that I wasn't aware of before.
• 6:25
  So thank you again. If you would like to know more
• 6:31
  about Fran's story, then please go and find her social media
• 6:36
  page. It's LinkedIn, the show
• 6:37
  description. I really encourage you to go and
• 6:39
  do that. Thank you so much for being here
• 6:44
  and listening to the Letterbox podcast.
• 6:46
  If you can think of somebody who might enjoy this letter, I would
• 6:50
  love for you to send it to them. Until next time, take care.