We are walking to thank the Royal Marsden for the amazing care that I continue to receive. Without the Marsden’s support I wouldn’t be here today, able to walk 15 miles to fundraise for them. They never failed to make us comfortable through some of the hardest situations. The staff and the children’s department do amazing work, that has changed my life and for that I am truly grateful.

The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity raises money solely to support The Royal Marsden, a world-leading cancer centre. We ensure our nurses, doctors and research teams can provide the very best care and develop life-saving treatments, which are used across the UK and around the world. From funding state-of-the-art equipment and groundbreaking research, to creating the very best patient environments, we will never stop looking for ways to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. 

The story behind our walk: 

In March 2006, aged 9 I started to get increasingly bad headaches, which led to violent morning sickness. I was taken to A&E various times but doctors gave a quick examination and insisted it was childhood migraines. After many visits back and forth the hospital finally decided to do a simple CT scan.

The doctors came and told us that the scan revealed that there was something unusual and I was rushed off to another hospital for an emergency MRI scan. After the doctors and consultants studied the scan photos, I was diagnosed with three brain tumours. The added complication was that the tumours were blocking my cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that would normally flow down the spine. The building up of CSF explained the awful headaches and sickness and is known as Hydrocephalus. To release the pressure, I had major emergency brain surgery days later. I had a VP shunt fitted to drain the fluid that was blocked. 

About a month later the chemotherapy started consisting of two drugs. I started off having intensive chemo once a week. It all went smoothly and after six or seven months the chemo was reduced so it was less frequent. Although the chemo was cut back, problems still arose. About 6 months after starting the intensive chemo, I came out in a major rash. The consultants immediately stopped the chemo, and discovered a new allergy – the chemo itself! They had a chat with us and quickly decided on a new drug course. However the new drug took two days to drip through an IV line, meaning prolonged stays in hospital. I had also kept my hair throughout my initial drug course, but sadly when it had to be changed, I lost my hair.

Around 2 years later the chemotherapy finished. After boring stays and long waits, my treatment came to a welcomed end on Christmas Eve! My hair grew back after about a year and we all started to get our lives back on track. Not knowing that our next obstacle was just around the corner.

In 2009, I started to get the same symptoms as the first time I was ill. Eventually we had to go to hospital as the symptoms were getting too extreme. We were given a scan and then sent home. Later in the evening, we had a phone call from the hospital telling us to get to the hospital immediately and it was not long before I was rushed for another major brain operation. The gap between the two brain ventricles was blocked causing fluid to build up in one ventricle; this gap had to be opened up to relieve the pressure.

Soon after the operation I started to get migraines every day. At first I assumed it was due to the major surgery - anything drilling through your skull would give you a headache. However when the headaches persisted for a month afterwards, questions started arising. The pain was so intense that I could not do anything when I had a headache – drugs seemed to have no effect. When the headaches had not eased for about 7 months we were referred to a neurologist. After a year I was still having 4 migraines a day and after lots of different drug trials I found that the only drug that eased the pressure so it was bearable was paracetamol. Miraculously in January 2011 the migraines went suddenly, no one expected it and we never did find out what caused them.

Meanwhile after the results of one of my routine scans in April 2010, I had relapsed. Thankfully the second batch of chemo went more smoothly and although my hair thinned I didn’t lose it.

In December 2016, I very suddenly fell ill and within a couple of days was admitted to hospital 5 days before Christmas. It was at St George's where they decided that my shunt had become blocked and I needed more brain surgery. The whole shunt was eventually replaced and after a whirlwind couple of days the long recovery process begun. 

6 years on, I, along with my family members, am fundraising again by completing the Marsden March. 

Over the last 16 years I have continued to have scans at the Marsden and will continue to fundraise for such an amazing cause.