For professional organiser Dilly Carter, the past two years have been challenging to say the least. In late October 2022, after trying for several years to have a second child, Dilly had surgery to remove uterine fibroids, which were thought to be impacting her chance of getting pregnant. That surgery revealed cancer of the womb – and it was the beginning of a terrifying health battle.
In an exclusive interview in Good Housekeeping’s March issue, Dilly opened up about her cancer diagnosis, as well as the brutal surgery that followed. Following her diagnosis, the doctor explained that Dilly needed a hysterectomy, and further scans revealed that the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes by her pelvis and wrapped around the sciatic nerve to her leg.
“When I woke up after the second surgery, not only had my reproductive system been removed, but they’d also scraped the cancer off my sciatic nerve, so I was in the most horrific pain,” she says. “I couldn’t do anything; I was crawling up and down the stairs. Nothing in my life will ever beat the trauma of that pain.”
The Sort Your Life Out expert spent the next four months taking 16 painkillers a day, but her nightmare didn’t end there. Dilly also had 28 sessions of radiotherapy, to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back – then, she started getting sick.
“I ended up in hospital because I couldn’t hold anything down,” she explains. “I thought I had a bug, but they did more scans and it turned out that the radiation had damaged my bowel.”
By now it was December 2023, and Dilly was told that she’d never eat normally again. Instead, she’d have to be fed via a tube for the rest of her life. For Dilly, however, that simply wasn’t an option.
“I told the doctors, ‘I can’t live like this.’ I was defiant. They tube-fed me for six months, but I kept trying to eat,” she says. “I was throwing up several times a day, and went from nine stone to six stone. Eventually I ended up hospitalised and underwent surgery in August last year, removing a metre of my bowel.”
Surgeons reconnected Dilly’s small and large intestines and, slowly but surely, she’s become able to eat again. It’s still something she has to manage, but despite everything she’s been through, Dilly is remarkably upbeat, choosing to see the positives of finding herself in such a challenging situation.
“I’ve learned so much, and it’s made me who I am today. I’m really lucky. I’ve always had a positive attitude, but the last two years have taught me that this could all go tomorrow,” she says. “So make the most of it. I want to empower, educate, motivate and inspire people through my own life experiences.”
Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping’s March issue on sale from 30th January.
To find out more about Dilly’s decluttering business, Declutter Dollies, or to sign up for courses, visit declutterdollies.com.
