WHEN concerned friends asked Deborah Shipperlee how she was feeling as she battled cancer, she decided there was only one way to tell them.
The 55-year-old, of Shenfield, decided to put pen to paper in a series of poems.
The Cancer Candy Store, a book documenting the mother of three's fight, is now being sold to raise money for the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity as well as providing a support to other patients.
Ms Shipperlee said: "When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, a really good friend of mine drove three hours to be by my side at 3am.
"As she lived so far away, she told me to write down every thought and feeling so she could understand and support me. I found the easiest and quickest way to record my thoughts was in rhyme."
A chance meeting on the golf course with another cancer patient and a publisher inspired Ms Shipperlee to turn her writing into a fundraising tool.
Since being published two months ago, the book has also been in great demand from fellow patients.
Ms Shipperlee, who now lives in County Wicklow, Ireland, said: "It was quite difficult for me to let other people read what I'd written at first as it was my innermost thoughts and feelings.
"But it was one of the best healing tools for me and it's wonderful to hear other people are reading it and gaining some support from it. Some have told me this isn't just my journey, but theirs, too.
"There's so much that nobody tells you about cancer, like what the machinery looks like and about the aches and pains you suffer. I was very keen to use photos in my book to show these things so people are not so frightened of the unknown.
"You may find friends avoid you as they simply do not know what to say to you. After reading the book, they have a better understanding of what you're going through and feel able to talk to you.
"I didn't expect the book to have such an impact on so many people."
The book costs £8 from The Hair Company in Crown Street, or the Helen Rollason Centre in Lawn Lane, Chelmsford.
