Chloe Johns
Chloe's London Marathon Page
Fundraising for Breast Cancer Now
Story
Once again, I’m braving the dark nights and early mornings, so that in April, I can go on a 26.2-mile jog with 38,000 other people. As I question my sanity, I remind myself why I’m doing all this again...
In 2015, my mother, Tina, died of breast cancer.
She spent 4 years fighting the disease. As I look back now, time was punctuated by little wins, but bigger losses. When she got the all-clear from her primary, and then when she called to tell me it had come back. When the cancer that had spread to her liver was shrinking, but it had already spread to her bones, and then her lungs. When I had to call an ambulance one rainy Sunday morning because the disease had reached her brain and caused a stroke. And when my sister and I held her hand the night she died...
One in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed every year. Whilst breast cancer survival is improving (and has actually doubled in the past 40 years due to improvements in treatment, earlier detection through screening, and faster diagnosis) there are still nearly 1,000 deaths each month.
Breast Cancer Now is the biggest breast cancer charity in the UK. I strongly believe that no one does more in terms of research, campaigning, and pushing through legislation, to help current (and future) breast cancer sufferers. Mum frequently visited the Breast Cancer Now website for information, and my sister and I both used it as a valuable resource when we didn't understand the technical terms.
In the last year alone, Breast Cancer Now research has found:
- That a new drug, when added to standard treatment, cuts the risk of dying by 32% for women with primary HER-2 negative breast cancer.
- A new way to diagnose and monitor breast cancer which has spread to the brain and spinal cord. Their scientists believe that this test could help patients get diagnosed earlier.
- A link between male infertility and breast cancer in one of the largest studies into male breast cancer.
- A new method to help reduce anxiety around breast reconstruction. By working with specially trained psychologists, patients can explore expectations and goals, so that they can discuss them further with the surgeon.
- BCN is currently calling for improvements to the Faster Diagnosis Standard as only 70% of people with suspected breast cancer were seen by a specialist within two weeks of GP referral this year.
Breast Cancer Now is working on research that will ensure that by 2050, no one else will die of breast cancer. Your hard-earned pennies will help find more ways to prevent, detect and treat the disease, so that we can move from a time when people fear breast cancer, to a generation where everybody lives.