Lauren Walton nee Gardiner
Lauren's Shine Cancer Support Great Escape Bournemouth 2020 - and coronavirus support fundraising post-Escape
Fundraising for Shine Cancer Support
Story
I've been overwhelmed with the amount of support and love that has surrounded me this year, during what has been a pretty awful time. In March (ironically on International Women's Day, since it was gynaecological), I was diagnosed with cancer, out of the blue, and life went somewhat wonky...
Many of you know what has happened over the last year, some were here throughout and others twigged and got in contact. Whilst it was never a secret, we didn't feel like shouting the news from the rafters either, so please accept my apologies for not telling you directly if you did not know until now.
Nearly ten months on, I find myself in a curious limbo world. We don't yet know for sure if treatment was successful, but we're very optimistic, and keeping everything crossed, that it was. I have been amply warned though that life will never be the same, even without the next five years of close monitoring, MRI scans, and checks. Intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy has caused permanent - as well as (hopefully) temporary - changes to my body, to my brain and cognitive function, and to most facets of life. Pretty much overnight early menopause has been rough, but that's skimming the surface of what it has all meant. I am extraordinarily grateful to Tom, my family, and my friends and colleagues at work, for the outpouring of love and support they have given me throughout. I don't have the words to articulate how much everyone's kindness has supported me. In amongst some of the darkest moments of my life so far, have been moments of such joy and happiness, and I thank you all. It has been a rotten way of finding out what is really important in life, and what I want to focus on in the future, but I am very thankful that the lesson has been learnt.
One of the organisations that has been a light in the darkness for me since I first heard about them in a pretty grey and dreary oncology department waiting room (sorry, Addenbrooke's), is Shine Cancer Support. There's a bit more information about them below this message. Shine is an amazing small charity. They do an enormous amount with very little, and every penny given to them counts. Many of the organisations out there are either geared for very different demographics, or specific types of cancer. Shine focus on supporting people in their 20s-40s, and providing support around areas that affect this group of people in particular - including careers and getting back to work, fertility - and infertility, relationships, travel.
I have met some fantastic people through Shine and made some wonderful new friends. I benefited from their life coaching scheme when I was starting my return to work a few months ago.
I hope you, and your loved ones, never need to use their extraordinary support and advice. But if you ever do, please do not think twice about reaching out to me, or to contacting Shine directly via their website, facebook, or twitter.
I was utterly blown away by the donations when I posted a birthday fundraiser for Shine back in May this year. I clicked a few times to sign up to start the fundraiser whilst I was waiting for my 20th external radiotherapy session, and 15 mins later when I came out of being blasted, I burst into tears when I saw that over £100 had already been donated. My 38th birthday this last year involved a meeting with my oncologist and an external radiotherapy session, followed by a lovely, but light, lunch at a gorgeous little cafe with my wonderful husband, and then a long nap in the garden.
I have been lucky enough to be given a place on Shine's Great Escape in Bournemouth in Jan 2020. Three and a half days of support, advice, friendship, and people who know what this weird new world means and is like, and how to deal with it. I'm breaking cover, and announcing all of the above quite publicly, because I would like to try to raise some funds to support Shine and to enable them to be able to help more people in their 20s-40s in the future. During the Escape we are going to be doing a 5km hike. This is quite a big thing for me, after all of the fieldwork and travels I have done over the years, 5k would have been nothing in the past, but now it seems like a lot. If you are able to give a couple of pounds, enough for a coffee, or a G&T maybe, if you would ever buy me a drink in a pub, I would be hugely appreciative if you would buy that next one for Shine instead. The one after that, for you, in person, will be on me.
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Shine Cancer Support is the only charity in the UK focused on supporting adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s who have experienced a cancer diagnosis. Shine is run by people who are living with cancer and run unique events across the UK. Donations from the general public form the bulk of Shine's income - and with a tiny staff, you can rest assured that all of your money goes toward making a difference to the lives of younger adults with cancer.
