Robert's Race for Life

I’ve had cancer twice now. The first cancer I had was Prostate cancer over 5 years ago. I was told I’d probably outlive the cancer but radiotherapy was enough to stop it. 5 years later I was given the all clear. Then last year I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. I was told the options were surgery or drugs. Drugs were less likely to work and realistically I was looking at 2 years without surgery. However due to my weight and other medical conditions I was not a candidate for surgery. I was allowed to take part in an assessment to see how much strain my body could take in order for the surgeons to make a decision on whether I could survive the strain of surgery. I surpassed everyone’s expectations and the surgeon and doctors were happy to operate as I had more chance of surviving the surgery than not. I was in surgery for 5/6 hours, a lot longer than the surgeon had expected with only 2/2.5 hour surgery planned. They removed my kidney which weighed a kilo with the tumours and also some of my lymph glands. The recovery was tough but again I did a lot better than the doctors predicted and expected. 10 months on the initial verdict has been good and in a few months I’ll have my year check up and everything is looking good at the moment. I’ve been very lucky to have an amazing support system from friends and family and I’m taking part this year with my daughter, her boyfriend and their dog (who have taken part for the last 5 years) to give something back.