Back in 2016 my dad was diagnosed with Cancer.  The doctors found a lump in his neck and jaw the size of a golf ball.  Leading up to Christmas he had weeks and weeks of continuous Chemo and Radiotherapy.  He had a tough, tough time; without the ability to swallow he was fed via a tube in his stomach.  He lost a huge amount of weight and was in tremendous levels of pain.  He never moaned, never complained, just got on with it.  My Step-mum was a rock, and we all chipped in with taking dad to hospital for treatment.  After 3-4 months of daily visits to hospital his treatment ended. In March of 2017, Dad was told the treatment had been a success and the cancer had been removed and had not spread to other areas.

His rehabilitation had started in full.  With speech therapy and being taught how to swallow again the long round to recovery started.  A few months ago the tube was removed from his stomach as he was able to sustain a good level of food intake naturally to sustain weight and health.

He's on the mend with regular checkups every 3 months so all is on the right path.  Dad’s mid 70's and has plenty to live for, and plenty to look forward to.

The support my dad and my step-mum received before, during and after his treatment from Macmillan was excellent.  When I told my dad and step-mum I was running the Marathon they asked what Charity I was going to run for.  They suggested Macmillan and told me of the support they had received and I thought it was the perfect match.

Sadly over the same period my auntie (Dad’s sister) was also going though treatment for cancer and passed away in the spring of 2017.

The odds are still in favour of the wrong side.  My dad survived, my wonderful Aunty was taken too soon... far too soon.  Funding to charities like Macmillan help to swing those odds towards a positive result for people fighting Cancer.

Please give what you can, if you can, and help fight.  The War is a long one, but every penny swings the fight in our direction.

Thankyou for reading my Ramblings...