Soooo I’ve finally taken the plunge and signed up to the London Marathon. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but I just don’t like running enough to do it without a real reason to push myself. But now I’m running on behalf of my lovely Mum who sadly passed away on 8^th February 2021 to blood cancer, I have the motivation to push my mind & body through it.

My story in short….. Mum was fit and healthy, it was only a few days before Christmas 2020 when she developed a cough and started to feel unwell & fatigued. After multiple tests (including 2 negative COVID tests), Mum was admitted to hospital for additional testing which is when they suspected it could be blood cancer. Being in the height of the pandemic Mum also unfortunately caught COVID, adding to the cocktail of problems she was already facing. Before we could get the confirmed diagnosis and start a cancer treatment plan, Mum unfortunately took a turn for the worse and within a blink of an eye, we were at her bedside saying goodbye.

It was only after my Mum passed away that we got the full extent of her blood cancer diagnoses. She had stage 4, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, T-cell and she had large masses in her kidneys, liver and stomach and it was an extremely aggressive cancer in multiple organs.

I was and still am absolutely heart broken and devastated. Completely shocked at the speed that my mum went from being healthy and alive, to no longer with me. My security, safety net, that one person that has your corner no matter what! Was now gone. I’m so grateful for all the lovely memories I’ve had, but it’s hard not to feel robbed of the opportunity to make new ones and seeing my mum grow old.

There are so many different types of blood cancers and treatments, survival rates and outcomes really vary. Blood cancer UK conduct clinical trials to discover new treatments and do research to better understand how blood cancer functions and affects people, as well as support those affected by it. Because blood cancer destroys your immune system, it is difficult to fight off normal colds and illnesses and catching something like COVID-19 can be deadly. Blood cancer UK are doing specific research to better understand COIVD-19 in patients with blood cancer and the levels of immunity people have after the COVID vaccine is given. 

Though I can’t change what happened to my Mum. With your help, we might prevent this from happening to someone else’s mum, farther, brother, sister, or friend.

Please help me to reach my target to give me one more opportunity to do something nice for my Mum 😊.

Love and thanks to you all

xxxx