Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

It's World Cancer Day on 4th February, so in honour of this I'm having just over 30cm of my hair chopped off and donating it to The Little Princess Trust, who make wigs for children going through chemotherapy. At the same time I'm attempting to raise some money for Cancer Research UK. Here's why...

In April 2015 I had a lump in my neck tested. The result was inconclusive, but the ENT consultant told me there was a 10-15% chance that it could be thyroid cancer. So on the 19th May I had a thyroidectomy (my thyroid gland removed).

A couple of weeks later, on the 1st June I went for my follow up appointment. My consultant told me that the histology results (where they analyse the tissue that was removed) showed that I had 2 cancerous tumours on my thyroid. Although they had both been removed, one of the tumours was very near to a blood vessel so they were worried that the cancer cells could have travelled to another part of my body. Because of this I was advised to have 'radioactive iodine treatment'.

I'm rubbish at physics so I don't fully understand the technicalities of how radioactive iodine treatment works, but iodine is only absorbed by thyroid cells in your body, therefore having radioactive iodine means that any remaining thyroid/cancer cells absorb the iodine and the radiation kills them. It doesn't really have many side effects because it's not absorbed by any other cells.

So on 19th August I had my radioactive iodine treatment. It involved just taking a tablet, no injections or cannulas, weird! This meant I was radioactive (although I didn't feel it!) so I had to be in a room with lead lined walls and could only have visitors for 20 minutes a day to minimise the risk of them being exposed to the radiation. Luckily I only had to stay there for 3 days, but I was still restricted with what I could do and who I could be around when I got home. I had to stay away from pregnant women and babies for a few weeks, so I was off work for a while!

6 months later in February 2016 I had a scan which showed that I had no thyroid tissue left, which meant the cancer had completely gone. I was really nervous as I could have needed another radioactive iodine treatment, but luckily just one was enough. I was so relieved!

Although the treatment I had wasn't enjoyable, and I felt pretty rubbish at times, I feel incredibly lucky that I didn't need to go though chemotherapy or radiotherapy and suffer all the horrible side effects that come with them.

By raising money for Cancer Research I hope it makes a small contribution to finding kinder treatments, like mine, so other cancer patients can be as lucky as me. And for those who aren't so lucky, I'm hoping that donating my hair will make a difference to a young girl or boy going through chemo.

The Little Princess Trust needs about 6 hair donations to make 1 wig, so if you've got lots of hair please think about donating some... here's their website with all the details. http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk

If you can donate some money, however small, I'll be so grateful, and hopefully it will help fund research to find kinder cancer treatments and cures sooner.

Amy xx

To get your unity band in support of world cancer day, go to http://www.cancerresearchuk.org or to a cancer research store!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.