My Story
After spending a super active summer in 2016 in the Alps, I went back to work in September and was hit like a ton of bricks by a strange cough and shortness of breath that left me unable to climb the stairs or even unload the dishwasher without having to sit down! I'd been feeling tired for quite some time, but I just put it down to being a mum and running a business. After going to the doctor, I was fast tracked to have a chest X-Ray, which showed large raised lymph nodes in my chest. I was swiftly referred to Haematology where I underwent a number of procedures to help identify what was going on with me. A heart echo revealed that I was carrying a significant amount of fluid around my heart and lungs was immediately admitted to hospital - over 1 litre of fluid had built up in a space that normally has just 1 teaspoon! The cardiologist couldn't believe I was walking around without going into cardiac arrest! Shortly after this I was diagnosed with Stage 3b Hodgkin Lymphoma, a large mediastinal mass which had squished my lungs and heart and caused the fluid to build up (I was later to find out it was a huge 14 x 11.5cm, hard to believe that I was managing to climb mountains just one month previously!) The prognosis for Hodgkin is favourable, but the treatment was extremely tough. 6 months of intense chemotherapy - with a dose every 2 weeks it felt pretty relentless. My journey was not straight forward. Because of the fluid build up around my heart, I was admitted to hospital frequently, keeping me away from my family for long periods. To start with, chemo really didn't agree with me and that combined with the effects of the disease and an infection caught part way through my second cycle I experienced pain beyond anything I have ever felt before. The care I received at all times was outstanding. My midway PET scan showed chemo was working and after my final PET scan in June 2017 I was declared in complete remission. Since I've finished chemo I've been working hard getting myself back to fitness. It's been a long road. Chemotherapy (and steroids!) caused me to gain a lot of weight, and left me with peripheral neuropathy which causes numbness in my fingers at really random times! Mostly I feel hugely lucky to have a second chance at life, I feel like I've had a very lucky escape, but I know others aren't so lucky. I ran the 10k Race for Life (slowly!) to mark the one year anniversary of being declared in remission earlier this year and now my mad cousin has persuaded me to take on this 26 mile hike. Anything you can give will be appreciated!
