Lucy's Giving Page

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 I now find myself aged 41 with a terminal illness, facing the realisation that unless a cure is found, I won’t live to see my now ten 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, I'm now on a 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 decided to focus on my fundraising and achieve my goal of raising £10,000 for cancer charities (£6,000 of which I had already raised over the years for Cancer Research, Macmillian, Marie Curie and The Elimination of Leukemia Fund. This 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! 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 2022, I decided to host a gala ball, dinner and auction in 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 it's huge success, I've decided to host this ball annually. With my family and friends agreeing to continue my legacy of doing so every year onwards, when I'm no longer here to do so myself. (Hopefully in a good few years yet!) Last years 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! This years event will be held on 4th May 2024. So if you are able to either buy a ticket to attend, (I'm unable to promote the link here unfortunately due to CR rules - but get in touch and I’ll happily share it as all are welcome), donate because you can't attend, or donate a raffle or auction prize to help raise the total, I'd be immensely grateful for your kind support. Health-wise currently, I thankfully continue to remain stable. The first treatment line I've been on since re-diagnosis is thankfully continuing to keep the cancer sleeping. The tiny liver tumours have disappeared and the lytic lesions (holes) in my spine are currently stable. So long may that continue, so that I can continue fulfilling and enjoying the life I have and making memories with the incredible friends and family that I'm blessed to share it with. Every quarter I endure; - 1 x Heart scan - Echocardiogram - 1 x CT body scan - 1 x Cannular in chest with dye injection - 2 x chest needles to take blood - 4 x leg injections of targeted immunotherapy - 3 x tummy pellet menopause-inducing injections - 2 x bone strengthening acid infusions via chest port - 1 x Oncologist review & scan results - 270 tablets - 15 medical appointments across four different hospitals and 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 first picture is me having chemo in 2016 when diagnosed the first time around, when I lost all of my hair. The second picture is what the usual me looks like (for those that may not know). The third 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 is gradually growing back - Rod Stewart style! The fourth picture is me currently - with a lot less hair, (and a fair bit of hairspray to tame the re-growth mullet!) The fifth picture is me at the first ball that I held in 2022. The sixth is me at the ball in 2023. And the last picture is me now, in 2024. Still with a positive attitude and a huge appreciation and relish for life despite everything. The last pictures are of the first and second Gala Ball Fundraisers that I've hosted to-date along with some of my army of incredible friends that support.