My Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my fundraising page. Cancer is happening right now, which is why I’m fundraising right now for Cancer Research UK. There’s no time to lose! Donate to my page today and help bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Many of you may have known that my wife Wendy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. It was what we thought at the time to be the most devastating news you can hear as a family, she went through two lots of surgery, radiation treatment and then rounds and rounds of chemotherapy. Following this daily preventative cancer drugs. She was a warrior and into 2018 we were told she was cancer free. Life was good, but during Christmas 2021 Wendy started getting back pain, we had almost weekly visits to the GP who initially diagnosed a trapped nerve in the back, but various pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs later, nothing was working. In desperation she saw the GP again and through discussion it was agreed it was something more than just a trapped nerve and he referred her back to the breast clinic as she was just within the 5 year window of not needing to go through the who referral process again. So she had a bone scan first and at the results of this we were told it looked like possible arthritic bone degeneration which seemed plausible as the anti cancer drugs she was taking had a side affect of causing bone density issues. To get further clarification they wanted to do a CT scan to get a better image, the results from this were given to us on July 8th 2022, Wendy's cancer was back. She had a tumor on her spine and some cancer in the left lung. The spinal tumor is in the middle of her back just below her heart, the tumor is encroaching into the spinal column and pressing against the nerve which is where the pain was coming from. So from there where do you go... Well after an MRI scan to allow oncology to create a defined treatment plan, this plan started with 5 days of radiation treatment focusing on the area of the back were the tumor is, this has stopped the tumor going further into the spinal nerve as surgery is not possible to remove the tumor because of where it is, next she started on a course of oral chemotherapy before having another MRI scan in October. The results of this scan followed with unfortunately more bad news, the treatment was not working and although the tumor on the spine has not progressed the disease has spread more into her lungs and into her liver. This has meant a total change in treatment, she is now having 12 sessions of IV chemo in 3 week cycles with 1 weeks rest, we are currently in cycle 2 and waiting for the next CT scan date to see some positive results fingers crossed. So to do my little bit I have signed up to do the Cancer Research UK Marathon Jurassic Coastal Hike on the 8th July 2023 so blister plasters at the ready!! As part of the event they have created a Just Giving Page, I've set myself a target of £500 all of which will go to finding a cure to this most evil of diseases. If you can and would like to donate to my challenge please follow the link and give as much or as little as you can, if you are also a UK tax payer please sign up to gift aid so Cancer Research UK can claim money back from the taxman. Whatever you can donate Wendy, the boys and myself will be so very grateful. x
