A mum who was told she could not hug or touch her children because rare medical treatment meant she was RADIOACTIVE has finally been given the all clear.
Emma Day, 27, was placed under strict instructions to stay two metres from anyone after she under went a pioneering program for thyroid cancer which left her emitting harmful rays.
She was initially hospitalised in an isolation ward but doctors allowed her to return home – as long as she did not go near her six-year-old daughter and one-year-old twins.
But now, after three long weeks, the mum, from Cheltenham, Glos., has been given the all clear meaning she can finally kiss and cuddle her children once more.
Emma said: “It was amazing just being able to hug my children again. The week before had been really difficult.
“I was really surprised when the doctors told me I had the all clear, and I certainly didn’t expect it to happen that quickly.
“They were a bit surprised themselves.
“I was really struggling with not being able to be near my children, and it was really emotional especially when the children were crying and I couldn’t go to them.”
Emma said she rushed home to cuddle her children as soon as doctors told her it was safe.
“People sometimes take their children for granted and just to be able to hug them again was a perfect moment,” she added.
The mum-of-three was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer in January this year after seeing a doctor for a lump in her throat.
It is the second time brave Emma has battled cancer, after defeating leukaemia as a child.
She first thought the lump in her throat was a swollen gland but doctors soon realised the growth was cancerous after an operation to remove half of it.
The six-centimetre tumour in her thyroid went right across the edges of her throat.
As part of her treatment Emma underwent a pioneering programme which saw her placed in an isolation unit in Cheltenham General Hospital.
She was initially so radioactive anything she touched inside had to be thrown away and she had only a landline and mobile phone for company.
Emma was allowed home three weeks ago, but was forced to watch from a distance as her children played and were looked after by her family.
Throughout her treatment Emma kept a blog and more than 80 bloggers rallied around her, posting messages of support.
She said: “My blog became therapy for me because I could share how I was feeling. They have been there to support me and to cheer me up, and I am very thankful for that.
“I have only met a few of them, but they were really encouraging during those days.”
Emma will have a scan in six months to see whether she will have to undergo the treatment again, but for now she is determined to make the best of being close to her family.
