Aimee's Race for Life

We're raising as much as we can to beat cancer

Story

In May 2022, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Only a few weeks later, we found out that it was stage 4 after it had metastasised to her lungs. Our worlds were rocked. I felt like life as I knew it had been turned upside down. Would she see me in a wedding dress? Would she meet my kids? As she began to explore different chemotherapies, it felt like things were starting to settle and we adjusted to our new normal. Mum's got blood tests today, mum's got treatment tomorrow, mum's got a scan next week. Less than a year later, in April 2023, I noticed a lump in my neck. It appeared overnight and it was hard and immovable. I tried not to panic (which is tough to do when Google says only panic if the lump's hard and immovable) and I saw the GP the next day. She referred me to the urgent 2WW and I had a few tests and scans. On the 9th of May 2023, I was diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. I had a few more tests and scans and on the 19th of June it was confirmed to be stage 2 classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The tumours are in 3 groups of lymph nodes so I'll be starting high intensity chemotherapy the week of the 24th of July. This can affect fertility, so I'm currently going through the process of freezing my eggs. There was less than a year between mum and I being diagnosed. Completely unrelated, nothing we could've done. Luckily, mum's tumours haven't grown in the past year. And for me, my prognosis is pretty good. Roughly 90% of people with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma will survive for 5 or more years after their initial diagnosis. I'm in for a tough year of chemotherapy and, hopefully, we can avoid radiotherapy. Cancer Research UK funds groundbreaking advances in cancer treatment. Their life-saving research is helping to beat cancer sooner. I signed up for the 10K race for life around Christmas time to help fundraise and contribute to their mission. When I first signed up, I was doing this for mum. Now, I'm doing this for us. Together, we will beat cancer.