A HOSPICE nurse who has spent years helping others battle cancer is now facing her own test.

Tracy Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer in November and is set to begin her first bout of chemotherapy next week.

But ahead of her treatment - during which the former St Helena Hospice palliative care nurse has been told she will lose all of her hair - she is shaving her head in a bid to raise money for the Breast Cancer Now charity.

Despite only launching her fundraising drive early this week, Tracy, 56, has already raised more than £1,300.

The mum-of-one said: "Being a palliative care nurse, I know what it is like when it doesn't go as you hope it will go and, to be honest, that is terrifying.

"I thought I lived for today, doing what I did, but when you are actually faced with it, it's terrifying.

"So I've tried to concentrate on those ones who did come through it rather than the people who didn't."

Although one of the most well-known symptoms of breast cancer is a lump, Mrs Brown - who also worked as cancer nurse Essex County Hospital's former Jefferson Ward - initially went to the doctor after finding an indentation in her right breast in October.

She had a wide local excision, a procedure which removes small amounts of diseased tissue, on the breast on December 13.

The disease was also found on two lymph nodes and further tests were carried out to see if it had spread into her bones and lungs.

Although those results were clear, she will have to go through six cycles of chemotherapy and a likely bout of radiotherapy.

The married grandmother of three, of Ladysmith Avenue, Brightlingsea, added: "Doing what I do, I knew what it was.

"If you find a lump you can always hope it is a cyst but with an indentation, I knew exactly what it was.

"Now I'm just in that place where I want them to chuck everything at me. I want to beat this and make sure it never comes back again."

She added: "They told me I will lose 80 per cent of my hair in the first cycle and by the second cycle it will all be gone.

"So I wanted to get it cut short but my hairdresser said I'd probably be wasting my money so I thought: 'Well, my husband shaves his head, I'll just shave mine,' then I thought I should do it for charity.

"So I set up the website and called Brightlingsea Community Centre and asked them if I could do it in the bar there."

Mrs Brown said she has been "overwhelmed by the support" she has received from the Brightlingsea public.

The shave will take place on Sunday at 1pm in the Lower Park Road Centre.

To donate, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/Tracy-Brown34.