Student Wellbeing Centre Walks All Over Cancer

We all know someone who has been affected by Cancer, whether that is a family member, friend or colleague. This subject is close to a lot of people’s hearts including us here at the Student Wellbeing Centre. Two incredible members of our team have recently been diagnosed with and had personal battles with Cancer. In December 2018, one of our dear colleagues was given the painful news that she had breast Cancer. This brave young mum of two then went on to have extensive testing which resulted in her having to have a mastectomy. Throughout this whole period, she has been an absolute inspiration to us all, and has made us all think about those affected or fighting against the cruel disease that is Cancer. Another member of our team was diagnosed with one of the rarest forms of Cancer and has shared a little about her experiences: “I was diagnosed with anal cancer in April 2018. As this is one of the rarest forms of cancer it was misdiagnosed a couple of times at my local hospital and it wasn’t until I ventured on to the wonderful Macmillan Cancer forums with my concerns and I took advice from an anal cancer surgeon, that I got referred to a specialist hospital in Homerton, London. I found out that I had cancer on the day of the operation to remove what was originally thought to be pre-cancer. Although I had no friends or family with me at the time, I felt very grateful to have the wonderful care and support of the staff at the Hospital. Never have I been more grateful to the NHS than at that moment. I was being looked after in a specialist hospital by the most fantastic people. How lucky I was! I had two operations to get rid of the cancer (thankfully I didn’t need radio or chemotherapy) and, so far, it’s staying away. I have to have check-ups every 4 months for 2 years but it’s reassuring to know that someone’s keeping a close eye on me! No-one knows your body as well as you do. If something doesn’t feel right – if something is bleeding and it didn’t used to, if there’s a lump where there previously wasn’t, if you’re losing weight and you don’t know why, go to your GP. Don’t be afraid, don’t leave it. Early detection is key to successful treatment.” The Student Wellbeing Centre is going to be raising money for Cancer Research UK throughout March by completing two different challenges. First of all, every member of our team is going to be walking a minimum of 10,000 steps every day in support of the ‘Walk all over Cancer’ campaign. Secondly, on the 13th March we will be completing a Static Triathlon in the University of Lincoln Sports Centre. This will be 8 hours of continuous running, biking and rowing carried out by ourselves. We are also lucky enough to have some fantastic colleagues and friends who will be joining us on the day to help us raise money for the amazing charity devoted to researching methods to fight Cancer.