A Scots newlywed who suffered pain so severe she thought she had been "stabbed" at TRNSMT has told how she was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer four hours later.
Errin Shaw, from Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, was enjoying a day out at the popular music festival last year when she was rushed to hospital after experiencing strange sensations in her body.
The 30-year-old had been experiencing itchy skin for months before the incident at Glasgow Green on September 12, 2021, but there were no other symptoms.
Doctors diagnosed Errin with a rare cancer called Grey Zone Lymphoma just hours later, and was told it was likely she wasn't going to make it to Christmas.
Errin said: “I was at TRNSMT in Glasgow Green, we were listening to Snow Patrol, and I actually thought I was having a heart attack.
“I turned to my husband Graeme and said ‘have I been stabbed?’ and he said no, so my mum picked us up. She took me straight to the Glasgow Royal and within four hours I was diagnosed with cancer.
“I was there for three or four nights then I went straight to the Beatson – so I never went home from TRNSMT for a month.”
Errin started chemotherapy on September 17 just three months after she married her husband Graeme, who she lives with in Paisley. There were only ten days during an eight-month period that Errin wasn’t in the Beatson cancer centre in Glasgow due to the complexity of her treatment.
"I had 606 hours of dose-adjusted e-poch chemo – it's not the most straightforward chemo," Errin added. "I was hooked up for five days in a row to my chemotherapy. I had that regime five times.”
Just a month before turning 30 in July this year, Errin was on a day out with her sister in Edinburgh when she got an unexpected call about a recent scan.
“My phone rang and it was the Beatson. Every time my phone rang and it said ‘Beatson’ I’d always look at whoever I was with and say ‘get my bag packed’ because we knew it meant I was going back in.
“It was my lymphoma nurse, Michelle, and she said: ‘I can’t wait until your appointment on Monday to tell you this news. We’ve actually had to triple check it because we can’t believe your PET scan’s clear’.
“She said there was no detection of disease at that present moment. As you can imagine that was out the blue and from last year being told I wasn’t going to make the Christmas to being told that... It was a crazy moment.”
Errin has since held a party called the ‘Gingie Ball’ to celebrate her being in remission, which raised £5,375 for Beatson Cancer Charity. She also plans to visit the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre on Christmas Day to hand out gifts to patients after experiencing being in the wards last Christmas.
Erin said: “There aren’t words for the Beatson, I wouldn’t be here without them.
“We've obviously raised thousands for the Beatson because being in there you experience first-hand just how amazing they are, they’re phenomenal.
“I can’t talk highly enough about them – from the auxiliaries to the porters to the café ladies... When you ring the bell and the whole café team cheer you on, the fundraisers who helped with my ball – everyone just wants you to do well when you go in there.”
The Beatson Bauble Appeal you will continue to provide care, love and hope to families this festive season and beyond. Everyone who donates will receive two baubles in the post – one to hang on their own tree at home, and one to send back to be hung on the Beatson tree. Clock here to donate.
You can also donate by texting BEATSON to 70460 to donate £10 or you can call 0141 212 0505.
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