In 2016, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
In 2017, I beat it.
In 2018, it came back for another go, in my lung and my brain.
In 2019, I will beat it again.

So in 2020, I want to celebrate that and show cancer it won't win. For every one of us it hits, we'll fight back in force and we WILL find a cure.

My journey so far

In 2016/7, I had four rounds of AC chemo, four rounds of TC chemo, a lumpectomy, six lymph nodes removed and targeted radiotherapy. Before all that I was quite fit, so my body responded well, and six months after treatment finished, I ran the London Winter Run 10k in a personal best time of 54 mins.

Six months later, I lost feeling, movement and stability in my left hand. A month later I was paralysed down my left side. My breast cancer was back, but this time I had two lesions, in my brain and my left lung. I nicknamed them 'Dastardly & Mutley'.

A month later, I had neurosurgery to remove Dastardly from my brain, I then had stereotactic radiation to remove any remaining cells that he may have left behind, and then started chemotherapy...

Tomorrow I start my fifth (penultimate) cycle of chemo, and should finish my sixth (and final) cycle by the end of March. I'll then have surgery and/or radiation to kick Multley out of my lung. And by July (one year after diagnosis), my treatment should be finished.

What's different now?

When I ran this race in 2018, I was in great shape. Despite having cancer (and the treatment which came with it), my body was still in relatively good shape afterwards. I didn't think so at the time, but on reflection; I could walk, run, ride a bike, and had full use of all my limbs. What I didn't have was self-belief. So I ran the race to prove to myself that I still could. And I did.

This time, my body's a mess. The medication I've been on for the past six months has wreaked havoc on my body, and after being paralysed down my left side and having brain surgery, I had to learn to walk again. I've just started to ride my bike again, and running is next on my goal list. But while I'm desperately trying to rebuild my body, retrain my left hand/arm and regain my mobility, I'm also going through chemo again, which is depleting my immune system, my muscles and my strength. So for every three steps forward, it's two steps back. 

So what's the plan?

Right now, I can walk around 6000 steps a day - that's around 5km (all-in, from getting up to going to bed) so it's going to be a big challenge! But that's what makes it worthwhile, and here's how I plan to do it...

Stage 1: finish chemo - goal is to not go backwards! Focus on staying as healthy as possible and just get to the end of March in one piece.

Stage 2: regain my movement and flexibility - I now have about 80% use of my left hand/arm and 95% in my left leg. Whilst I may never regain full mobility, I want to be able to stretch properly and minimise risk of injury.

Stage 3: learn to run again - sounds simple, but right now I can jog on the spot for around 10 seconds and run on the road for about 5 paces. But once I finish chemo, my recovery should accelerate. My muscles have memory so they know what to do, I just need to give them time to remember and practice! 

Stage 4: training - my usual distance for a run round the park used to be 5k. If I can get to that, I know I can do 10k, so my goals will be 1k, 3k, 5k then 10k. 

Stage 5: race day - if anyone wants to join me, you're more that welcome! I'm literally starting from scratch, so no-one has any excuses for 'not being a runner' - if I can do this, so can you! 

For updates on my progress in the meantime, check out www.buyabiggerbucket.com

Finally - the money

These days, everyone is asking for donations and most are for great causes. We're a generous generation! But sadly we can't donate to everything, even if we wanted to. 

But cancer is a killer which affects almost everyone, and we're so close to fining a cure, I'm SUPER proud to be contributing to that breakthrough!

Every penny we raise will get us closer - funding research, providing treatment, and giving people like me a chance to make a difference to those who have to fight.

So dig deep for whatever you can spare - thank you SO much :)

Boxy xx