Inspirational mum Kyla McKinlay in second cancer fight

Kyla McKinlay from Greenock, who was diagnosed for the first time in 2011, was hit by a new bombshell in April this year.

The 47-year-old had been losing weight and feeling tired but had put this down to extra hours she was working.

Then she found a lump and doctors soon confrmed she had cancer again.

While battling the disease, the inspirational businesswoman, who recently took over The Chartroom at Kip Marina, has been raising money for charity.

Despite being in the middle of gruelling treatment, she led 300 people on a sponsored 'Baldy Walk' from Gourock to Inverkip Marina, raising more than £12,000.

Kyla says she knew right away what was wrong when she found the lump.

She said: "I'd put the way I was feeling down to the hours I was doing and finishing up with my dad's business.

"It was a lot of stress.

"Then one Sunday I checked myself in the shower and I found another lump.

"I knew what it was."

By the following Thursday Kyla was at Inverclyde Royal and two mammograms, an ultrasound and a biopsy confirmed her worst fears.

She said: "They had found a six millimetre mass on my breast. They thought initially because it was small I wouldn't need chemo,  but it grew so much in eight weeks that they decided I did.

"But I was fortunate it was not secondary cancer. It was primary cancer, which is quite uncommon. I've got to be a bit different!

"It was not related to hormones, just bad luck."

This time Kyla had to undergo the trauma of a 10-hour operation to remove her breast and at the same time undergo a reconstruction.

The lifesaving surgery took place at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in June.

Kyla admits she was terrified as she walked into the operating theatre.

She said: "I could feel my whole body shaking. As the nurse put the mask on my face she said 'I can take you to anywhere you want to go.'

"I said ' I want to go home' and I could see the nurse standing opposite wipe a tear from her eye."

Kyla explained how she faced three surgeries, firstly to remove the cancer, then a 'tummy tuck' and finally using this to reconstruct the breast.

She said: "It is traumatic. You see a psychiatrist to make sure you are fit for the surgery and they tell you what's going to happen, and the worst case scenario. It's quite frightening.

"I had to learn to roll out of bed and get back into it, because you use your tummy muscles to do that, and how to walk upstairs, walk to the toilet, how to sit on it and how to cough."

Kyla is now on the fifth of her eight rounds of chemotherapy at IRH and says the staff are amazing.

Kyla is married to Scott and they have a 17-year-old son, Kerr.

Despite her new health battle, determined Kyla has never felt sorry for herself but she admits it has given her a new sense of perspective.

She said: "There are a lot of people in the world a lot worse off than me.

"I have met so many amazing people, some with secondary cancer which is terminal.

"With the mastectomy I have a 19 per cent chance of getting the cancer back in another breast.

"The first time it was a 90 per cent chance in five years of it returning, so I will take the positives.

"When I opened the Chartroom I was always working and this has made me see that life is too short to work your whole life away.

"It's made me take a good look at my life, it's a sign."

Kyla will turn 48 on October 28, four days after her last round of chemotherapy, and she has planned a meal at her sister's restaurant in Gourock with all the family to mark the occasion.

She says the recent sponsored walk has been good for her mental health.

Kyla said: "There were 300 people there, it was a great turnout, absolutely brilliant.

"There were family, friends, my son Kerr's football club Greenock Juniors under 18s and his girl pals, even my dad's GP came."

"Sometimes you can overthink things and the Baldy Walk gave me something else to focus on instead of me being ill."

Once they reached the Chartroom, walkers made a donation of £10 each to go to Ardgowan Hospice and were greeted with a beer or fizz, hot food and entertainment.

They were set on their way by piper Ian White, who played as they walked along Kempock Street and past Gourock Pool.

Kyla says she feels overwhelmed by the support she has received and wants to thank everyone who came along, those who donated, and all the businesses who put up prizes or provided services for free.

She wants to thank her two aunties for organising the event and Chartroom supervisor Emma Young for collecting raffle prizes, and her mum and dad and sisters for all their support during this difficult time.

The total raised from the walk, £12,665, will go to Ardgowan Hospice and Breast Cancer Care.