Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, through which I’m hoping to raise £2,500 for Prostate Cancer UK. You smashed the £1,000 target in just 48 hours so we’ve decided to raise the bar to £2,500!

Now, my husband Benny would say that this is about me having my head shaved for Prostate Cancer UK rather than about him. But it is also about him because he has Prostate Cancer. 

Until we started researching it we had no idea that it is the most common cancer in men, or that each day around 129 men are given the news of a Prostate Cancer Diagnosis. That’s over 43,000 men a year, each one a husband, or son, a father, brother, uncle, boyfriend, lover, each one a friend. 

Compared to 10 years ago the treatments & prognoses have improved hugely, while research is ongoing to find more successful treatments & to give more years to those whose cancer, like Benny's, is advanced & incurable. Hormone therapy, radiotherapy & chemotherapy are the weapons we have to control his Prostate Cancer for as long as possible, but we hope that someday soon those who have bone or lymph gland or lung or liver metastasises will know that there is a real possibility of being cured.

As the wife of a man with this bloody awful disease I feel there is little that I can do to make a difference, but what I can do is -

• Recommend: www.prostatecanceruk.org as the best source of information and support that we have found online. Our local hospital gives out their information booklets, so they must be good! I’ve found friendship & even laughter from other forum members, even on the bleakest of days.  

• Suggest: never ignoring signs or symptoms of prostate problems. Benny was only 54 at diagnosis despite the average age at diagnosis being 66.  

• Ask: For your money! Anyone who knows me knows that I love my hair. Curly or straight, red, plum or ginger, it is a big part of who I am. As vain or frivolous as that might sound to some, it is true. So on Friday 23 February 2018 at 9pm I am going to have my head shaved at The Rivers Arms, Cheselbourne here in Dorset. Anne, the landlady, has it in her diary, so there’s no backing out now!

And yes, there will be photos 😁

So please help by giving a little or a lot so that together we can help to fund research, Specialist Nursing advisors, information and better strategies for those with PCa. Click Donate or text MHHS55 followed by the amount you want to donate, eg MHHS55 £5, to 70070.

Thank you, you rock!

Mel Hazlehurst

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.