A Fife woman can cuddle up with family this Christmas after radioactivity saw her endure her loneliest festive season ever last year.
Gemma Cassells can now share a hug with the sister who was there for her every step of the way through her battle with cancer.
The 23-year-old was forced to keep at least one metre away from all family and friends last Christmas after treatment for thyroid cancer saw her become radioactive.
Everything she touched was left so toxic it had to be thrown away and not even her big sister Stephanie, 26, was allowed close to comfort her.
But what a difference a year makes.
Now the Kirkcaldy woman is clear of the disease and has been chosen to help launch Dryathlon, shunning alcohol for a month, across Scotland.
“I got no kisses or cuddles from anyone last Christmas,” she said.
“No one could even put an arm around me, give me a hug and say that everything was going to be okay. It was horrible.
“It can feel lonely having cancer anyway so this just made it worse.”
She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in August 2014 after she discovered a lump the size of a golf ball in her neck.
After two operations, she was admitted to hospital where she was given radioactive iodine treatment, a form of internal radiotherapy.
She was given the treatment as thyroid cancer cells pick up the iodine wherever they are in the body.
The radiation in the iodine then kills the cancer cells.
The radioactive iodine is a targeted treatment which means it doesn’t affect other cells in the body, as only thyroid cells take it up.
In isolation, she recalled a man coming in with a test tube containing a gold tablet.
“I had to swallow the tablet straight away and couldn’t let it touch the sides of my mouth,” said Gemma.
“No one was allowed in to the room and I wasn’t allowed out.
“All of the clothes I was wearing had to be destroyed.”
The next day doctors allowed Gemma to return home but with the strict instructions not to touch anyone.
The side effects of the radioactive pill even put the Fifer at risk of setting off security alarms for three months.
“I had to carry around a medical certificate to show the security guards when I set off the alarms in Asda,” said Gemma.
“But the worst part was the first two weeks when I was in isolation in the house.
“I couldn’t touch anyone as they might have ended up radioactive,” she said.
But it was worth it when in January a full body scan revealed the treatment had worked.
Gemma said her sister has been her rock and in September the pair got matching tattoos.
Gemma’s says “survivor” while Stephanie’s simply says “believe.”Go dry and help raise cash for cancer researchGemma Cassells is urging Scots to put the drinks on ice in January to help raise money for Cancer Research UK.
She has been chosen to help launch Dryathlon across Scotland inJanuary.
Since it launched in 2013, more than 170,000 people have taken part in
Dryathlon across the UK and helped raise £17 million to help beat cancer sooner.
And Gemma knows exactly how vital the power of research is towards helping to save lives.
She said: “Hopefully one dayeveryone who has had cancer will be able to say that they’re survivors.”
More than 6,000 people from across Scotland took on the 2015 challenge, raising £605,159 for research.
To sign up, visitwww.dryathlon.org.