5km in 30 degrees, talk about out of our comfort zone!

So at last Angelina Jolie and me have something in common.  Whilst I would love that thing to be an intimate knowedge of Brad Pitt, rather sadly it actually turns out to be a mastectomy.

I'm the King in the King and Queens and I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. You know it's serious when your husband cuts short his snowboarding holiday...

Therein followed the oh so familiar barrage of treatments in the oncology arsenal: Step 1 mastectomy, step 2 as much chemo as they think you can physically handle, step 3 zapped with radiotherapy and ongoing step 4 hormone therapy and premature menopause.  Fabulous.

At first I was pragmatic about the side-effects - I saved a fortune on hairdressing and avoided waxing for a whole summer.  I worked out the bald featureless face staring back at me in the mirror was in fact Matt Lucas.  But of course there were darker moments - what troubled me most was that as I'm always behind the camera, there are very few pictures of me with my children - only 1 and 3, how would they remember me?

What I was most unprepared for however was the extraordinary positives that could come out of this: the overwhelming support of friends and family; the unstinting care and enthusiasm demonstrated by the staff and volunteers at the Southampton General Hospital; the random acts of kindness by complete strangers!

I'm pleased to say I'm in the clear and the future looks more certain.  Whilst I think about cancer everyday, it's no longer the first thing I think of.

I'm running for all those people who helped me, helped my mum, and who will be there for the 1 in 3.  I'm running because I can!

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