My Story
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. All the money I raise will help fund invaluable research and to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Sadly, so many of us know someone who has been, or is, continually affected by cancer, and with it targeting both myself as well as my dear Dad (he's thankfully been in remission a good while), I long for the day when a cure for all cancers is found. As many of you know, after five and a half years of being in remission from my original breast cancer diagnosis in 2016 (aged 33), and despite still receiving a plethora of ongoing preventative treatments from that point on, in November 2021 I was devastated to be told that the cancer had returned in my liver and spine and is now stage 4 and incurable - yes, terminal. This was despite previous mastectomy surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, hormone therapy, bone strengthening infusions and continued exercise too. Yes, shockingly after finding myself as a stage 3 cancer patient aged 33, with a then two and a half year old, I then had to digest even worst news five and a half years later that at 39 I’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer, facing the realisation that unless a cure is found, I wouldn’t live to see my then eight year old son grow up to become a young man and settle into adulthood and quite possibly not even into adolescence. And as you can well imagine, it is just utterly heart-breaking. After having dared to dream that I was finally clear of the awful disease and had started to look forward to the future, I’ve instead been propelled back into the never-ending cycle of hospital appointments, procedures, injections, infusions, tablets, tests and scans and this time it’s indefinitely. So after another six months of gruelling IV chemo in 2022 (after having already endured six months of chemo in 2016), I’m now on an indefinite palliative treatment plan – as all my treatment will now be. This is because stage 4, metastatic cancer (i.e. a cancer that has spread / reoccurred from its original primary source) is not currently curable and can only be managed to delay the inevitable progression and eventual demise. So, in a bid to twist this sick turn of events into some sort of positive as best I could, I quickly decided to focus on my fundraising and achieve my goal of raising £10,000 for cancer charities. £6,000 of which I had already randomly raised over the years for Cancer Research, Macmillian, Marie Curie and The Elimination of Leukemia Fund, mainly because my Maternal Grandmother died of (non hereditary) cancer before I had the chance to ever meet her when my Mum was very, very young herself. This fundraising total was through a sponsored hair chop on my 21st Birthday, a Skydive in 2010, Malaysian charity run in 2016, the London Marathon in 2018, a neighbourhood treasure trail in 2021, and various other runs and events over the years. Ironically, I even donated my long hair to a lady who made wigs for cancer patients in 2003 (before such charities existed) before then becoming bald through chemo myself years later and before having being diagnosed with any cancer myself at all. Follow the link here to see the cringy news article! https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/golden-girl-shaves-charity-4271361 So just as chemo (for my secondary diagnosis), started on New Years Eve 2021, (I know right, ‘Crappy’ New year!) I made the decision to host a gala ball, dinner and auction in the following Summer - June 2022, aiming to raise £4,000. Well, thanks to the huge generosity of friends, family and auction gift donations, we in fact raised £10,162.80 with 102 tickets selling out in under three weeks! So as a result of its huge success, I decided to host this ball annually. With my family and friends agreeing to continue my legacy of doing something similar every year onwards, when I'm no longer here to do so myself. The 2023 event on June 24th 2023 proved another great success, raising £7,550 which in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis is not to be sniffed at! Last years event was held on 4th May 2024 raising an incredible £7,314.28. However, fast forward two and a half weeks later and in I was once again devastated to receive some further crushing news that my then current treatment had stopped working and my cancer was once again spreading. So after some previous positive news in Feb 2024 that the cancer in my bones looked to be sleeping and the liver still remained clear since my 2022 chemo, the can results in late May 2024 shockingly showed a potential spread in my hip and pelvis. After a small treatment tweak, a change of Oncologist and a re-scan in Aug, the spread was indeed concluded. It just shows how quickly things can change with Metastatic cancer (Also referred to as incurable cancer or terminal cancer), and why it’s so difficult to plan anything too far in advance. So after 2.5 years of having been on my ‘line one’ targeted therapy treatment, I had no choice but to move to my ‘line two’ treatment regime. As you can imagine, I was utterly gutted as I was really (optimistically I know), hoping to have got 4-7 years on line one, so 2.5 years did leave me feeling kind of cheated. Particularly because the side effects were so minimal for me, making my quality of life pretty good. But I know I have to be grateful that it worked at all and gave me 2.5 years mainly stable. This ‘line two’ treatment that I'm currently on is a lot more gruelling in terms of side effects as it’s targeted immunotherapy in conjunction with a chemotherapy drug that can have a lot of brutal side effects. It put me in hospital in Jan 2025 with a horrendous searing hot burning under skin pain all throughout my body any time I moved, which lasted for over three weeks. So that was pretty horrific. They do administer and also prescribe drugs to counteract sickness but anti-sickness steroid side effects can be worse than the nausea itself, so I’m avoiding the post IV chemo steroids and just having the IV ones on chemo day (think insomnia, puffy moon fact, weight gain - blergh! Basically me in 2016 and then again in 2022). Having had six months of chemo in 2016, and then another six months in 2022, I'm now on permanent chemo every three weeks indefinitely. Until the cancer becomes resistance and I'll have to change to my line three option. I also remain on the other supporting drugs I’m on too to suppress my hormones (that feed my cancer) and strengthen my bones in conjunction with this new treatment regime too. But thankfully this new chemo seems to be working and has shown continued stability since August 2024. My hair has thinned but not all shed thankfully and I'm learning to manage the tough side effects too. I also know that I'm incredibly lucky to have the support and care of family and loved ones that help me on this journey too. And for that I’m eternally grateful. There are two more treatment lines after this one that are specific to my cancer type. And a few more ‘less likely to work effectively’ options after that. And then it’s clinical trials as a last resort when we’ve run out of options, but only if by then my body is strong enough to be allowed to take part in them. The news of my cancer spreading so soon after last years ball, makes it all the more imperative to me that I reach my fundraising goal of £100,000 for Cancer Research before my inevitable demise. (And by demise I mean death, because let’s face it I am already demising faster than I’d hoped for!) If you’re able to donate anything at all in support of my bid to achieve this, and to help all of us affected by Cancer (far too many of us), and to help fund that golden cure that I’ll never stop dreaming of, I’d be incredibly grateful. In summary, in order to stay alive, every quarter I endure; - 4 x IV chemo chest infusions - 1 x Cannular in chest with dye injection - 1 x Heart scan - Echocardiogram - 1 x CT body scan - 4 x chest needles to take blood - 3 x tummy pellet menopause-inducing injections - 2 x bone strengthening injections - 3 x Oncologist review & scan results - 270 tablets + - 15 medical appointments across four different hospitals and doctors surgeries. But it’s thanks to the generosity of people like yourselves, raising funds for charities like Cancer Research that have resulted in such treatment lines being available to me, that work to keep me here to make more memories and enjoy more time. For which I’m incredibly grateful. So as I said before, the more money we raise, the more we’re supporting the invaluable research for ALL cancers that could one day lead to a cure — let’s just continue to hope that it’s sooner rather than later. Because no child should face the prospect of losing a parent before they're even grown up themselves, as my poor boy now does. Thank you for your support — it’s very much appreciated. Lucy. x N.B. The bald picture is me having chemo in 2016 when diagnosed the first time around, when I lost all of my hair. The smiling picture is what the usual me looks like (for those that may not know). The ‘cap’ picture is me having chemo on 31st December 2022 (New Years Eve no less!) with the delightful freezing cold cap on to try and save my hair from falling out - again! I ended up losing around 60% of it in the end, which has ironically just grown back! The ‘blue bib’ pic is me having treatment in 2023 with a lot less hair, (and a fair bit of hairspray to tame the Rod Stewart re-growth mullet!). The last picture is me currently during my first ‘line two’ chemo treatment. Still trying to maintain a positive attitude and a huge appreciation and relish for life despite everything (despite my face!) The remaining pictures are of the first, second and third Gala Ball Fundraisers that I've hosted to-date since incurable diagnosis, along with some of my army of incredible family, friends and loved ones that support, that I couldn’t do it without. x
