A light has gone out!

A light has gone out in the breast cancer world. Yet another amazing inspiring woman has died from this awful disease. She has given such support and wisdom to fellow sufferers despite being on practically consecutive chemos for over 3 years. She was only 46 and leaves a husband and 3 young children who have lived through her suffering these past 4 years. I "knew" her mainly as a cyber friend on the Breast cancer care site but was lucky enough to meet her just once in February. Although we all knew how poorly she was she had pulled through so many times before right back from the brink I think we all thought she was invincible. She was still offering support to people on the site just days before her death whilst in her hospice. A truly giving and sincere woman who kept the most amazingly honest and upfront blog throughout her illness. She had published her dying wishes way back last summer when she thought the end was near and yet made it through last Christmas and defied the medics repeatedly even managing to take her children to EuroDisney in January. She is sadly the second lady on the site to have died in the past week and the sadness and shock of the forum is palpable.
Last year she recorded a podcast for Breastcancer care talking about how it really is to live day to day with secondary breast cancer. She doesn't pull any punches about the lack of support we receive from the hospital and gps. The BCC site is a godsend to so many of us. Sharing information,side effects,fears,hopes with people actually going through it is invaluable and you often pick up important medical information not told by your medical team! Sadly we all know that there is no happy ending for someone living with secondary breast cancer - people are living longer with it but I do get the impression that the end seems to be swifter for the younger ones as the cancer tends to grow faster but I hope I can prove this wrong. I've been meeting a few women with secondaries now since Feb but up till then which was a year since my secondary diagnosis I'd not met any. I always tend to be the youngest.
I can only begin to imagine how hard it is for the families left behind leaving children without mothers whilst I constantly grieve that I will never have children,grandchildren etc.
I have been philosophising recently about whether I really matter in the world with no partner or children and not being anything really significant but Kate, the lady who died proved that you can somehow be extraordinary by being ordinary. She really did make a difference to so many women and I know in turn that she felt the site and blog was her lifeline as well. It's so strange that in facing such a disease you get to know so much about people - even their bodily functions and inner thoughts and fears that they may not even discuss with loved ones and yet I didn't even know her surname until yesterday!
I hope the you are finally at peace Kate. You are sorely missed and will be remembered.