LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE

Helen Prior, 65, from London, found that laughter really is the best medicine...

- KEZIA REYNOLDS

Rearranging sunglasses on my face, for the hundredth time, it was frustrating.

It was not a wonky fashion statement-I was trying to hide my face.

How long do cold sores last? I thought.

I had a huge one across my nose and cheek.

After many long months of enduring the huge sore across my face, I considered getting it checked.

So in 2012 I made an appointment at a skin clinic.

I wasn't convinced anything was wrong, but I didn't want to look ugly! I had my consultation and was shocked that I was called back a few days later.

I was always a strong woman, and tried to see the fun in life.

'It's only a cold sore, I quipped.

'No, it's not,' the doctor told me.

'You have skin cancer, Helen.

I liked his honesty, but it was a shock to know I had a form of skin cancer called basal cancer.

I could see how upset my husband Peter was.

He wasn't an emotional man but I could see tears in his eyes.

'I don't want to lose you, he told me.

I had a friend who had had this exact cancer, and her face had been left all squashed.

I used to be a beautiful woman, I thought.