Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Hi all, Iet me start by saying this isn’t really my story per se, I see myself as a cog in a much bigger wheel, but bear with me. 

In January a friend of mine was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer.
On March the 8^th they had a 12 hour life saving operation to remove a 3x3 cm tumour from their eye and nose, which resulted in them losing their eye and socket and having to have part of their nose rebuilt from skull bone and arm tissue. They have just been through 42 days of chemo/radiotherapy and every hope is for a very positive outcome.

For my part the last 18 months of of Covid and shut down had a pretty detrimental affect, and rather than clearing out the house and going on 10 mile hikes every day, I upped my wine intake, not a good plan, from my already too reliant starting point.  I knew I had to change but didn’t know how to start. My friends story completely hit a nerve with me and it was at that point I decided I would not drink any alcohol every day that she underwent chemo – 6 weeks basically. My inspiration came from knowing that she didn’t have a choice as to whether or not she wanted to have chemo and therefore I had no choice as to whether I wanted a drink. 

The six weeks are up for her on Friday 25^th June and she has been absolutely amazing, every day doing a 2 hour journey in traffic just to get to the hospital. I Have never heard her complain, only be positive (more than I can say about not being able to drink lol). It was hard for her to tell friends about her situation and for me to admit to myself and others, even those closest to me, that I HAD (notice the word HAD) a drink problem, not exactly something you want to announce from wine section in Aldi). I chose not to tell anyone until I had actually completed the 6 weeks (I'm finishing Sunday 27th June) as I am not good under pressure and didn’t want anyone asking me how it was going 😉. Perhaps celebrate with a glass of wine.....just kidding.

Now I believe my friend and I are in a better place than 6 weeks ago, although I am sure she has much to contend with still in terms of recovery. I now know I CAN function every day without a bottle of wine to prop me up.

My friend was fundraising for the hospital that did the life
saving operations for her The Queen Victoria NHS
Foundation Trust Charitable Fund and so I decided that perhaps more people could benefit from the last 6 weeks and so I am asking anyone that might resonate with anything I have written to help her and me do even more good. I am starting by giving half of the money that I saved from not buying wine,  but as they say, every little will help. So, if my friends, you can spare anything, my friend and I and the hospital would be ecstatic.

Finally, to my friend (who shall remain nameless), I want to Thank You for giving me a reason and the inspiration to make positive changes in my life at such a difficult time in yours. We have shared some of the daily tribulations of the last 6 weeks and I hope to share more with you in the future, you got this :-) and as the ring says 'Keep F***ing Going  xx