They say that laughter is the best medicine.
And for one woman, arriving at the Anchor unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and spotting a nurse and patient in fits of giggles as they walked along together was an unexpected – but wonderful – relief.
From that moment, Nicola Dallas knew her cancer diagnosis did not mean the laughter stopped.
The 44-year-old, from Rosemount in Aberdeen, said: “I had never expected to feel anything like the love and happiness there was at the Anchor unit.
“I used to go in and have a right laugh.”
Mrs Dallas had previously found a lump in her right breast so was fairly relaxed when she discovered another, even when she was referred to Clinic D at ARI in October 2012.
The office worker expected to be told, like last time, that it was nothing but the consultant knew right away. “It’s not going to be good news today,” he told her.
That moment was her worst. She was distraught.
Although cancer has been the toughest challenge of her life, Mrs Dallas resolved to stay positive while facing the disease and even drew inspiration from her second-cousin Neil Fachie, who won gold at last year’s paralympics.
Mrs Dallas said: “I kept thinking how he trained for four years, put himself through agony and had no social life so I told myself I had four months of chemo to get my gold medal and it worked – I just gritted my teeth and got on with it.
“There were loads of happy times through my treatment and surgeries which were tough. Every week there was laughter. It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.”
While recovering from her treatment, Mrs Dallas raised more than £3,000 for the Anchor unit by selling hand-crafted hearts which she stitched herself.
She is very excited to be taking part in this year’s Courage on the Catwalk event which takes place at Aberdeen Beach Ballroom on Sunday, March 30.
Mrs Dallas said: “I didn’t dream a year ago all these great things would be happening to me.”
Along with the 23 other women taking part, she is raising money for the north-east charity Friends of Anchor – donations can be made online: www.just giving.com/Nicola-West ern1