Mel's story!

I'm going to start by explaining who Cuthbert is. Cuthbert is the tumour in the right side of my head. He is called a Cavernoma - a cluster of malformed blood vessels which can grow and leak causing severe neurological disorders such as a stroke.
An amazing team of surgeons at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford are going to evict Cuthbert in January 2015. This brain surgery will hold many challenges for me, not least because they will be doing it while I am AWAKE!

Following my diagnosis, I found a charity called Cavernoma Alliance UK. Many of you will know this really isn't my thing but I would have been lost without the help and support of CAUK. I have read their stories and spoken to so many people who are living with this horrible condition as their Cavernoma is inoperable. This means they have had seizures, strokes, vision loss and are remaining on some pretty nasty medication for the rest of their life. I know the medication it’s nasty, as I'm on it! CAUK desperately need to fund research to learn more about this rare condition. Without their support (and that of close friends and family) I would never have come to terms with what’s happening to me.

I would ask you all (and I know Christmas is looming and money is tight) to spare a couple of quid to this small charity, to continue to support people like me and raise awareness.
I do not need to shave all my hair off, only half but along with some amazing friends and work colleagues we are going to do it together!
The hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust so young boys and girls with cancer who have lost their hair can have some!