SHE was planning a special Las Vegas celebration for a milestone birthday...but instead, Melissa Currie found herself in a "horrific" situation.

The business owner was diagnosed with cancer following a routine blood test to check her iron levels and is now living with cancer.

Melissa, 31, who runs Macs Hair Studio, in the West End, said: "I had a blood test in June last year and everything seemed fine.

"The next day, I received a phone call telling me that I needed to go to the hospital straight away.

"I was told it was serious and it had to do with my blood.”

Unsure how to react, Melissa immediately called her husband Michael and her parents to ask them to go with her to the hospital.

She added: “My mind was all over the place. All the time I was thinking in my head, 'Oh my God, what is happening?'

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“I was given an appointment straight away in the clinic at New Victoria Hospital.

"When I walked down the corridor all I could see was cancer posters and information about cancer, chemotherapy and what to do with a diagnosis.

"I was in shock. The next thing I knew they were telling me I had to get hooked up and asking if I was here for my chemo today.

“I broke down. I had to go to the toilet and I honestly felt like I was having a panic attack.

"I got taken through to see a consultant and they said they were 99 per cent sure that I had CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia), which is a type of blood cancer that affects the white blood cells.

“I didn’t really hear much of what was said to me from the point they told me about my cancer."

Melissa was booked in for a bone marrow test the following week but chose to have treatment straight away.

She said she "screamed" all the way through the test due to the pain and, the next day, at the end of a "horrific" week, was told she had CML.

A course of chemotherapy, she said, hit her like "a ton of bricks" and left her with extreme fatigue.

But through it all, she kept working.

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Melissa and Michael married four years ago and she now relies on his support. Melissa said: “At first Michael was in shock, I think he found it really hard. He didn’t read any of the information leaflets we were given or speak about it, I know he was scared and worried.

“He comes to all my appointments with me which is great. He runs a bath for me every night and makes sure I’m eating.

"He has even started massaging my feet and he hates feet, he’s amazing.

“The treatment I’m on right now, I’ve been taking for quite a few weeks. I lost a lot of weight so I’m now on steroids and they’ve really helped me.”

Now Melissa is looking to the future and knows she will have to take medication for life - a situation she says is "the new me".

She also knows she'll get to Las Vegas eventually and is determined to keep a positive outlook on life, an attitude that has prompted her to launch her own brand of hair extensions - and raise cash for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Melissa said: “Next for me is launching my own brand of hair extensions.

"I specifically trained in hair and recovery and trichology. I’ve had my own experience now of what your hair can be like going through chemotherapy.

"Fortunately, I didn’t lose my hair but my hair hurt a lot and shed a lot more.

"I will now be able to work with clients post chemo and radiotherapy. There are lots to do going forward.

“You’re still the same person after a diagnosis and I think a lot of people tend to treat you differently but it’s important that they don’t.

"You need to keep your sense of humour and keep smiling.

“I’ve been doing my best to put my make-up on each day, do my hair and just make myself feel better. I now feel a bit more like me again."

Sharing the burden of Melissa’s diagnosis and eager to show support, Melissa’s parents, Anne and Stephen are raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support by taking part in the charity’s Mighty Hike event on Saturday, August 31.

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Anne said: “I’m a mum first before anything and when Melissa is going through something I protect her.

"Since her diagnosis, she’s been through so much and had so much to deal with.

“I wanted to do something to help raise more awareness and shout out that this can happen to anybody and at any age.

“Melissa is young, she has her own business and a lot of stresses because of that.

“While she was lying in her bed in the house she was writing up a training manual for one of the trainees in her salon.

"She just wanted to make the most of her time.

"There she was lying there with her chronic fatigue but trying to keep her business going as usual. I’m so proud of her.”

Forever grateful for the help that Melissa receives from Macmillan Cancer Support, Anne said: “The Macmillan nurse we were put in touch with to help Melissa through everything, including her treatment has just been amazing. "Martin Hannah has been a pillar of support to us and we can’t thank him enough."

To sponsor Melissa's parents, see www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ann-stephencurrie

To sign up for the Mighty Hike see eventregister.macmillan.org.uk/hikes/?eventId=823