THERE will be tears of happiness and hope as Lorna Morgan celebrates this Christmas.

The mum-of-two is preparing for the big day after overcoming breast cancer - and being chosen to front Cancer Research UK's latest campaign.

Early learning childcare practitioner Lorna will be Scotland’s face of the Right Now campaign, a powerful series of TV ads of recently treated patients.

It is a welcome change after what Lorna said has been the toughest year of her life.

And she is now determined to make every second count.

The 43-year-old said: "The biggest thing on my to do list for 2018 was to keep calm and kick cancer’s ass.

"I even remember writing that on my Facebook page.

"My husband came to every single chemotherapy session with me and I’m lucky I had the most genuinely lovely guy as my rock.

"We’ve been through so much together - happiness, heartache and bringing up two amazing children who make us proud.

"It was definitely an emotional moment putting up our Christmas tree this year."

Lorna, mum to Stephen, 15, and Lucy, 12, has been supported by husband Iain and a party is planned for his 50th birthday on January 26 - the start of a 2019 packed full of positivity.

She found a lump in her breast around a year ago and immediately knew something was wrong.

Lorna was diagnosed on January 12 this year.

The family had previous experience of cancer with Iain's mum Hilma Morgan dying of breast cancer aged 66 in "001.

And Lorna’s mum, Jan Nimmo was diagnosed with breast cancer on Valentine’s day 2002, months before Lorna and Iain’s summer wedding that year.

Fortunately, Janet’s treatment was successful and she celebrates her 70th birthday just two days before Christmas this year.

Lorna, from Kilmarnock, said: “I thought, ‘Is this actually me that it’s happening to?

“I’m so glad I went to the doctor to get checked out as it meant the cancer was caught early."

On February 26 this year Lorna had a lumpectomy which was surgery to remove the lump from her breast.

She then had six chemotherapy sessions.

Keen to avoid the side effects of losing her hair, Lorna wore a cold cap before each session.

The cold cap is a hat which can help reduce blood flow to the hair follicles and in some people can help stop chemotherapy drugs from causing hair loss.

It was a boost to Lorna that while her hair thinned, she didn’t lose it.

On August 13 this year she started the first of 19 sessions of radiotherapy which meant travelling every day from her home in Ayrshire to the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow.

She caught a free bus funded by Ayrshire Cancer Support to travel to Glasgow every day and husband Iain drove her home at the end of each session.

In September Lorna rang three times the end of treatment bell at the hospital and she has remained cancer free since.

She said: "Now I want to do everything I can to raise awareness of the power of research in beating the disease.

"I hope people are motivated to show their support and help even more people survive.”

Cancer Research UK was a key player in the development of radiotherapy, which now benefits more than 130,000 patients every year in the UK.

Breast cancer survival has doubled in the last 40 years.

Last year Cancer Research UK spent around £38 million in Scotland on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.

To help support life-saving research, see cruk.org