My Mum is 57. She has worked her whole life since leaving school at the age of fifteen. She's never been in a great paid job but has been proud of herself for working hard and paying her way in society. She's never been able to buy a home of her own or save but instead she has worked hard and got by with what she had. She put food on the table for us and taught us the value of working and being inde pendant. Both me and my brother went to college and university snd now I work as a nurse and my brother is also employed full time. Two years ago my mum had breast cancer. She was absolutely devastated and had to go on sick leave from the job she had for the last 20 years as a school caretaker and cleaner. She had never taken a single day off and loved her job. She left and went through chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as surgery to remove the breast but became very weak. She got through the treatment but developed severe lymphodema in her arm which prevented her going back to work as she didn't have use of her arm so her employer couldn't offer her old job back and made her redundant. During this time she also learned that she had arthritis in both knees and would need to go in for further surgeries on her breast