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Alison Fletcher

Alison's Race for Life

Total raised

£3,615.00

+ £795.00 Gift Aid

1807%% Complete
1807% of the £200.00 target
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Peterborough 5k 2018

Sun 24 Jun 2018

My Story

So, here is my story (it’s a long one).... just before the New Year, I found a small lump (like a small grape) in my right breast whilst showering, I did not feel panic or fear, I just thought “how inconvenient, I am going to have get this checked”. I had to wait to get a GP appointment (didn’t push for an urgent one, I really wasn’t worried), they referred me to breast clinic where I would be seen within 2 weeks. I still did not worry, I have no risk factors, most breast lumps are nothing to worry about. Then the appointment came, I was examined, mammogram done and ultrasound, I lay there waiting for the sonographer to reassure me that it was a cyst, but no reassurance came, it was definitely not a cyst, biopsies needed to be taken, I then started to worry. Another 2 weeks to await results, I googled so much but was actually reassured that the odds were in my favour, young, no risk factors. Results came and my world fell apart, “you have triple negative breast cancer”. How can I have cancer? Am I going to die? What on earth is triple negative breast cancer? I am a very experienced nurse and had no idea what they were saying to me, I had no idea there are different types of breast cancer. The need for knowledge overtook and I had to know as much as possible, the statistics and information terrified me. I have a very aggressive, relatively rare, high rate of reoccurrence and difficult to treat form of breast cancer. But I am a good person, I am only 38, I have never smoked, I am not obese, I am fit and active, I am a wife, I am a Mummy, I shouldn’t have cancer! I was so angry, so scared, but so determined that I had to get on with this, I have so much to live for. Following many more tests, bloods, biopsies, scans and examinations. I am now 7 weeks into chemo (have a total of 21 to complete), then face surgery and radiotherapy. I have no hair, no energy, a rash on my face, nausea, sore mouth, menopausal symptoms, aching bones, the list goes on. But, I am here, others are not! I am so positive, I will take whatever this evil disease and the treatment throws at me, I am determined to get ME back, I have to, my children need a Mummy and no one else is getting my husband! People say I am brave, I am not, I am terrified to the pit of my stomach that this disease will kill me (that is the truth), I have no choice but to face it and fight it and hope that I can be cured. I put my complete trust in the medical professionals, my future, my life, in their hands. Without the research into cancer, the treatments, the awareness, the screening, less people would be surviving, thriving. The statistics, and survival rates are getting better every year, that is down to cancer research. But unfortunately, people are still dying, young, old, Mummies, Daddies, no one is immune. So, this year I will complete the race for life, during chemo treatment, I will crawl if I have to. I will do it for those that have fought, those fighting, those that lost the fight, and those that will face it in the future. I know some people are sceptical about charities, but the proof is in the amazing advances in cancer treatment, I am on a clinical trial, hoping that treatment will improve even more in the future. I don’t want pity, I want people to be aware that it can happen to anyone. I will be so proud to walk with my daughter, friends, family, strangers, to face cancer and show the strength of human nature. A small donation from many will make a difference, it really does. Thank you Xx

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Total raised£3,615.00
Online£3,615.00
Offline£0.00

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