I am one in seven

I have decided to set myself the challenge of walking/running the equivalent length of Scotland (275 miles give or take) over the next wee while for a few reasons. 

One in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

On the 13^th of April after a month of appointments and tests, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), which accounts for only approximately 15% of all breast cancers diagnosed.

I had surgery on the 30^th April and started chemotherapy on 29^th May. I will need another surgery at the end of chemo but then hopefully that will be the end of it!

I’ve always been a naturally positive person and that mindset has helped massively during this period, meaning I have remained fairly unshakable throughout with the absolute belief that I’m not going anywhere for a good while yet! 

I feel extremely grateful to have been given all the necessary assessments and treatments during lockdown and appreciate the level of care I have received by all the NHS staff involved. I am also fortunate to have found this early enough that there appears to be no spread to lymph nodes or beyond and I am also very aware that this is not the case for all.

As it stands I have had two rounds of chemotherapy and as
some of you may already know, as an experience it isn’t a bundle of laughs, but it is what it is and in my case a necessary part of the process.

During the first round, after a few days of feeling pretty
ropey, I decided that I had to try to turn things around somehow. I thought about the things that normally give me a boost - singing and exercise came to mind – so still in my polka dot pyjamas and looking a little rough around the edges, I dragged myself on to the treadmill and forced myself to walk a mile whilst belting out some upbeat classics with as much gusto as I could muster!

It worked!

It was a slow mile, I will say that, but I felt so much better,
brimming with positivity and a real sense of achievement.  And so that was it; this has become part of my masterplan for alleviating some of the icky-ness along the way.

While I am doing that, I would like to raise some funds for
Breast Cancer Now, giving something in return for all the help I have had these last couple of months and perhaps even offering benefit to some women (or men) dealing with this disease.

Breast Cancer Now has so many great research projects on the
go and specifically of interest is their research into triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). There are currently no targeted treatments for TNBC and Breast Cancer Now are funding a research unit at King’s College London dedicated to understanding more about it.

They also fund research into risk and prevention; early detection
and diagnosis; secondary breast cancer and not forgetting, they also provide ongoing support to anyone diagnosed with breast cancer via their support helpline.

So the plan is to walk/run (I’m a very slow runner but a
really fast walker so it’s almost irrelevant which one I end up doing the most of!) 275 miles before the end of my last cycle of chemo. The last 21 day cycle will end on 1^st October. This represents a big challenge for me as cumulatively the fatigue with each round is supposed to get worse, but having this focus will keep me pushing through. That’s the plan anyhooo! And don’t get yourselves in a fankle, I won’t wreck myself. If there are days I can’t do it (I’ve made allowances for these) then that’s cool, I will just sing instead. The finished album will be available in all good record stores in time for Christmas, socially distanced from anything ever recorded by Cliff Richard!  :-) 

I will post updates etc. as I go, so you can track my progress along with me, but won’t post daily activity otherwise you will all be paying me to feck off by the end of it! Ha!

The songs I sung over and over when I dragged myself on to the treadmill that day, if you are interested were https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aoCqU4QcZo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9gMsdNQSUM