Sitting in a function room at the Palm Court Hotel in Aberdeen, Jennifer Fowlie is ready and waiting to start the second rehearsal for Courage on the Catwalk.
The 54-year-old, primed with her practice heels, is excited about the fashion show in May – and with good reason.
Not only is she one of the 24 women selected to model in one of the north-east’s biggest cancer fundraisers, she has been hoping to take part for the last three years.
“I applied the first year, but I was too ill and had to pull out before they even got to choosing the line-up,” said Jennifer, of Lonmay, near Fraserburgh.
“I put my name in for the second year but I was on holiday watching Formula 1 on the day of the first meeting so I couldn’t do that year either.
“Hopefully now I will raise funds for Friends of Anchor to help them continue their support for the Anchor Unit and to fund future cancer research projects.”
Sadly, Jennifer is no stranger to cancer and the devastating impact it can have.
It took her mother from her when she was just 12, and it was the same bowel condition which affected her when she was 50.
Before she was diagnosed, the Clydesdale Bank branch manager was fit and healthy and had lots of hobbies, including fishing and walking and being an avid follower of MotoGP.
She loved going on holidays and was a voluntary board member for North East Scotland College.
But she gradually began to feel unwell and became unable to keep up her usual walking pace, feeling sluggish with every step.
“I was 50 and put it down to being fat and unfit, ” she said.
“I walked a lot but then I started slowing down and I couldn’t keep up with the two friends I went walking with.
“I always did the ‘pink walk’ in Fraserburgh (the Moonlight Prowl), which is 13 miles, and it got to the stage that I just couldn’t do 13 miles any more.
“I was always feeling cold at work and the girls were fed up with me putting the heating up and down.
“At this point somebody said I might have something wrong with my thyroid and that I should maybe get that checked.”
Jennifer visited her GP, and although she was told a thyroid problem was a possibility. the day after her appointment she was rushed to hospital with severe anaemia and had to undergo a blood transfusion.
Within a week, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
“I was watching it on the screen when they found the tumour,” she said.
“I said to the doctor: ‘what’s that?’ and he said it was a tumour and I just asked him to take it out.
“I was very blase, he was more shocked than I was as he didn’t think there was going to be anything there.”
Jennifer had to be operated on quickly, leaving just a three-week gap between the visit to her GP and the operation – to which her response was: “How lucky am I?”
As she prepared for surgery, her partner of more than 30 years Allan Pllu, 58, kept Jennifer active with 10 mile walks each day.
“He had this thing in his head that the fitter you are the more likely you are to survive,” she said.
“It worked for him and it worked for me.
“I went to hospital the fittest I had been for a while.
“Four units of blood transfusion really helped.
“It was like going from being able to sluggishly walk, to walking 10 miles and not being breathless.”
Following her operation, which successfully removed the tumour and 42 lymph nodes, Jennifer’s cancer was classed at stage three and she underwent chemotherapy.
Her treatment brought back memories of how poorly her mother had been when she was diagnosed, and Jennifer vowed to put on a brave face for those around her.
She said: “The truth was I felt angry, bitter and very scared I would not survive.
“Secretly I planned my funeral and started working through my bucket list.
“My two passions are travel and bike racing so I tried to fit in as many trips to MotoGPs as possible.
“I chased my hero Valentino Rossi all over the world.”
When she successfully finished her treatment, Jennifer suffered physically with aching feet and bones and her mental health also declined.
“I walked out of the hospital and all of a sudden I was on my own,” she said.
“I had the target of getting through the treatment and I thought: ‘What now?’.
“I went to a physiologist and then I went to Maggie’s Aberdeen for mindfulness.
She joked: “I then just had a fantastic time until I started working again.”
Jennifer is now enjoying life to the full and is eternally grateful to those who supported her through her journey.
Her partner, who works offshore, was given time off to care for her and when he had to return to work, her friends made sure she was never alone, while her colleagues helped her with shopping and cooking.
And her advice to anyone worried about their health is to visit their GP as soon as possible.
Jennifer said: “Listen to your body. If something’s not quite right go to the doctor.
“If I had gone sooner my cancer would have been easier to treat as my tumour had been growing for two years.
“I feel really lucky.
“I’ve been treated, I’m in the system and I’m watched over.
“I think I’ve had a second chance.”
