A NORTHWOOD mum, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when her son was just six months old, is calling on women to sign up for Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life Hillingdon this Mother’s Day.

One in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.

Keely Shelley, 36, is urging other mums and daughters to join in and help raise money for research to help more people survive.

Keely, a secondary school music teacher, is supporting the Hillingdon Race for Life 5k at Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex, Park Road, Uxbridge on Sunday, June 7, from 11am.

She said: “Mother’s Day means so much to me now because I’m grateful to be here to spend the day with my family and watch Oscar grow up.”

Keely discovered a lump in her breast in April 2013.

She said: “I’d found it very difficult after Oscar was born as he didn’t sleep well, which meant that I had months of sleepless nights. I didn’t feel well in myself but I just put it down to tiredness and the stress of a new baby.

“One evening I was on the computer looking at pictures of my brother’s wedding, which we’d gone to the week before. My hand just brushed my chest and I felt a lump.

“I knew it hadn’t been there before and that something was wrong. I rang my GP the next morning and was able to get an appointment for that day.”

Though her GP reassured Keely she thought it was nothing to worry about, she sent her for further tests at Northwick Park Hospital. She received the results of her biopsy on April 29 – her 35th birthday.

Keely said: “The next few weeks were like a whirlwind. I was absolutely devastated and it made me realise how little I knew about cancer.”

She underwent a lumpectomy at Mount Vernon Hospital, followed by a gruelling six rounds of chemotherapy which had to be juggled with childcare.

She said: “I felt terrible, I’ve never felt so dreadful. There were days when I couldn’t even hold Oscar because I felt so tired. The chemotherapy made me feel nauseous and my sense of smell changed so even Oscar’s lovely baby smell, which all mums adore, made me feel sick.

“Sometimes I would be resting upstairs and I’d hear him giggling with my husband Pete downstairs. You just take it for granted that you would be able to play with and carry your new baby.

The treatment caused Keely to lose her hair and her fingernails. She said: “I’ve always had really long hair, so when it started falling out 14 days after I started chemotherapy it was the first time I had fully seen my face.”

However there was one positive change. Keely said: “It was as if Oscar knew I needed my sleep. Almost as soon as I was diagnosed, he started sleeping through the night.”

Keely’s chemotherapy was then followed by three weeks of radiotherapy, which finished in December 2013.

She said: “It was just such a relief when it was over and I was able to get back to being a normal mum. It’s now nearly two years since I was diagnosed and I have check-ups every three months. So far I am doing well.

“I think what we’ve been through has helped put things into perspective for me. I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. If Oscar gets chocolate on his clothes it really isn’t a problem. I think I enjoy life more now.

“It’s made everything seem easy now. If I have a tough day at work I just think, that was nothing.”

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an inspiring women-only series of 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and marathon events which raises millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer sooner.

Michaela Brice, Race for Life event manager in London, said: “We are very grateful to Keely for her support and we are urging women in the capital to follow her lead.

“The atmosphere on the day is full of emotion. Participants wear signs on their backs declaring their reasons for taking part. Many will be remembering loved ones lost to cancer or celebrating the lives of people dear to them who have survived.”

To enter Race for Life’s 5k,10k or Pretty Muddy events in London, visit raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.