How a close-knit Dublin mum and daughter teamed up to battle rare blood cancer
Like many closely-knit mothers and daughters, Noreen and Anne Hennessy love nothing more than hitting the shops together at the weekend.
But, these days, their girly shopping outings are even more precious after their roles were reversed when Anne helped care for her mam as she bid to overcome a rare blood cancer.
'We absolutely love going shopping,' smiles the 31 year-old. 'Retail therapy!'
Just three years ago, it was a different story when Noreen (66) had to go wig shopping with her only daughter after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma out of the blue.
'Basically, she was cutting the hedge and she got a really bad pain in her back, and she could barely walk,' explains Anne (31). 'She was on a lot of pain medication.
'Then she went into hospital and they found out that she had spinal fractures and a collapsed vertebrae - and it was due to the cancer.
Phil and Gerard Nolan, Dean Nolan, Anne and Noreen
'She went through a year of intensive chemotherapy, then in April 2023, she had a stem cell transplant.'
Later that summer, Dubliner Noreen, a former Revenue worker, was a beaming mother of the bride as Anne and her husband Dean tied the knot.
Looking back, the HR manager admits it was all a bit of a blur, from shock diagnosis to recovery, with her mum happily doing much better now.
'All that happened so fast,' Anne says. 'Multiple myeloma is kind of scary when you hear about it first.
'It's not curable, it's something that you have to live with indefinitely.
'My mam's actually a biological twin, and her sister died of leukaemia when she was 21."
Noreen and Anne Hennessy.
News in 90 Seconds - June 22nd
'So it was really weird that they both actually had blood cancer, but they're both totally different.
'It took her a while to come to terms with it,' she adds. 'Only after you've come to terms with it, can you sort of find your feet, and say, 'I'm going to give it my all to get better', and she really did that.
'Every bit of treatment she could get, she took; she was so good with her medication.
'She did so well, and she is continuing to do really well.
'Like, she did the Mini Marathon there a few weeks ago - that just shows how far she's come.
Anne and Noreen at Lidl's launch of Lidl's 'Caring Employer' programme last year
'When she originally was going through chemotherapy, she couldn't even walk up the road without being breathless.'
Living at home, while planning her big day, as the eldest sibling, Anne says she thought nothing of stepping up to the plate to care for her mum, a widow, during her treatment, which also included several gruelling spine surgeries.
'My dad passed away in 2018, so it's just myself and my little brother, who is in his twenties, and my mam,' she explains. 'I was living at home at the time, so obviously then, you just kind of take on the role of looking after your mam.
'It was really quite debilitating - she couldn't do much at all herself. She needed help with most daily tasks, everything from [helping] around the house to getting medication and bringing her to hospital.
'The first 100 days after a stem cell transplant are a really critical time, so during that time, it would have been just myself with her, helping her in hospital, helping her at home.
'I was working away at the same time,' Anne continues. 'It was a really crazy time for everyone. The wedding planning was actually a good way to take our mind off it.
'You need to have stuff like, 'Oh, what are you going to wear?', normal things like that.'
Anne and Noreen at a Breast Cancer Awareness Race Day in Leopardstown
As National Carers Week concludes today, the Clontarf woman, one of just thousands across the country who are providing unpaid care for a loved one, says it's only now that she realises that that's exactly what she was.
'I never even would have considered myself at that time to be a carer - you don't really kind of think of yourself as that.
'You're just looking after your mam, or your dad, or whoever, and you're just trying to help them when they need a bit of help - it's a natural thing, I think.
'Only when you look back on it you can say, 'Oh yeah, actually, I was [a carer]'.
Anne praises her employer, Lidl, for their understanding during her stint as a stay-at-home daughter, and now the nationwide supermarket is backing others in a similar boat, with its We Care Back campaign, in support of charity partner, Family Carers Ireland.
Found at familycarers.ie, the organisation offers services such as respite care to give carers a well-earned break, and for €2, shoppers can pick up a Heart of Gold pin in all 186 Lidl stores nationwide, which will also help fund its national freephone careline and local drop-in centres.
Acknowledging both the honour and burnout that can come with caring for a sick parent, spouse or other, devoted daughter Anne urges others not to go it alone.
'It's definitely like you're in shock at the beginning, but you nearly feel like you need to just put the brave face on and keep going,' she recalls. 'You're trying to process it, you're trying to be the constant person over all the detail, and people are looking to you for updates on the other person.
'I think you need to have strong support, and obviously my now husband was really good, and everyone in the family offered me help, so I definitely didn't feel like I was alone in it. But it really does take a village.'
A simple cup of tea or supportive text is her best tip for those wanting to care for the carers in their life.
'I think any bit of support that you can offer [is good],' concludes Anne. 'Even just to be a listening ear for somebody that might be going through it, and feeling a bit overwhelmed.
'Since September 2023, mam's been on maintenance treatment, and she just does monthly hospital visits, and has ongoing medication.
'It was challenging, but I'm really glad that I got to help her when she needed it.'
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