My Story
2024 saw my best friend and husband fight cancer. I want to share both their stories to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer. They are two of the strongest people I know. My best friend Charlotte’s story: In October 2023, Charlotte was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. After multiple missed diagnoses and referrals, Charlotte’s cancer was eventually found when she was unable to walk to the end of her road without fighting for breath. Cancer was new to all of us. Char was 37 at the time - she, nor us, were prepared and looking back I'm amazed at how strong she was. "A day at a time" is what we all used to say and that became the mantra for the next year. Chemo - what a bitch that was! We all rotated chemo visits with Char, some of us stayed one weekend, others the next. We sat up with her through the night massaging her feet due to the intense aches and pains she would have for days. Finding the right wig - Trinny as we called her - took an unbelievable amount of mental and emotion strength and Char was in complete despair. But she owned it. Not only did she look fabulous but she even arranged her hairdresser to style Trinny. It looked amazing. Then there was and still is the management - the daily pills Charlotte has to take, the countless hospital visits, the 9hr chemo sessions - it all seemed near impossible when she was so poorly but she smashed it and continues to fight. She even delivered a bridesmaid speech at my wedding - she had had chemo 2 days before, was off her food and breaking into sweats but stood there in a room full of people and delivered an amazing speech - that's the kind of woman she is. Fast forward over a year later, Char completed chemo and is currently undergoing another treatment - a new drug which is causing extreme side effects daily. She continues to show unbelievable strength and I am so proud of her. My husbands story: In August 2024 Neil coughed up a polyp doing the kids bath time, he had a hoarse voice for a couple of months so decided to go the ENT specialist just to make sure everything was ok. We didn't think anything of it. What followed was 2 months of multiple laryngoscopy's, an MRI scan, two biopsies, two operations, a very early stage laryngeal cancer diagnosis and a permanent voice change - it was the best of a bad situation the doctors told us. We received the all clear in December - one of the best days of our lives. Maintaining the family dynamic, looking after two little kids and working all whist waiting for the next set of results was horrendous. But Neil is amazing, he got on with it, continued to be the best dad and even made the doctors laugh through handwritten notes and typing funny things on his phone. He's my hero and I love his new husky voice! In April, I will be running the Paris Marathon for Cancer Research UK to help raise funds for cancer research but also raise awareness for those fighting it right now. I will be running for Charlotte and Neil because the pain I will feel in 26 miles will be nothing like the pain they have been through. 1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime, please help the fight by donating. Thank you so much Charlotte
