Rosa's Story

As 2012 dawned with the usual fresh hope no-one could have imagined how quickly it would be shattered, yet again by cancer. In mid-February my beautiful and vivacious grand daughter Rosa Gill was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, a relativly rare childhood cancer of the nervous system. 

Rosa was the picture of good health and full of energy at her brother Ben's baptism at the end of January. Only a small asymetry on her tummy gave a tiny clue as to what was to come. Thankfully it was picked up by her mummy Marian and her aunty Anna and led quickly to scans and tests but also the devastating news. Through February further tests and scans were needed to establish the stage of the cancer. The process culminated in surgery to remove the tumour at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on Leap Year's Day.

Rosa appears to have recovered from the operation very quickly. She was in hospital only 60 hours but did spend her 3rd birthday there. Marian was determined Rosa shouldn't miss out so, on their return home, organised a party for the following day. Marian even made time to bake and ice a Character Cake for Rosa and buns too. What a couple of stars!

As for the current state of play, the fact is we are a family living with cancer again. In addition, the very nature of a cancer of the nervous system means surgery is risky and rarely completely removes the cancerous tissue. The latest news is that we are waiting for the histology report to determine whether chemotherapy is required.  

Peter's Story

I'm very proud of my children for the strength and tenacity they've shown in facing cancer again. They lost their mum Gill to cancer three years ago this month and could have done without more challenging times. In particular, Rosa's mum and dad Marian and Carl have been a tower of strength. They've just buckled down and got on with it without complaint.

During the time of Rosa's hospitalisation in Oxford, Carl stayed with Rosa on the ward. Yet, overnight accommodation was available for the rest of the family without question or charge nearby. CLIC Court is a facility provided by the charity CLIC Sargent http://www.clicsargent.org.uk which supports families of children with cancer. The accommodation eased a potentially difficult situation and provided a fabulous service to us all. I joined them in the house and can happily say CLIC Court is like home.

The work done at CLIC Court is very valuable and I propose, with your help to raise funds for the CLIC Sargent charity. I hope we don't need it again but, provided there are adequate funds we can rest knowing we have a home in Oxford for us as a family with a child affected by cancer. 

In April I plan to ride Coast to Coast again. This will be the fourth time. So far the journeys have been Whitehaven to Tynemouth 2009 (Sea to Sea), Morecambe to Bridlington 2011 (The Way of the Roses) and Workington to Sunderland 2011 (Sea to Sea off road - see photos). This time the plan is to follow the Trans Pennine Trail (Southport to Hornsea) about 208 miles mostly on disused railways. But, I feel I need to make it a challenge worth your sponsorship. So, I shall start and finish from home in Read thereby nearly doubling the distance to 400 miles.

For the TPT itself I will be joined by my regular cycling buddies Michael Ormond and Stephen Finn along with Brian Hewitt and Dave Worthington. I look forward to sharing another C2C challenge with you lads and to put the record straight, I really don't snore, honest! For those dedicated followers of our antics please check out my blog-as-we-go http://petercocker.blogspot.com/

Wish me luck! It's now up to you!   

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