On Sunday the 9th of June I’m going to be taking part in the Race For Life. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s a sponsored run for women of all abilities in aid of Cancer. It’s had an incredible six million participants managed to raise over £493million for cancer research since starting in 1994 (so it’s one year older than I am, cool).
I’ve done the race once before when I was younger with my mum but have entered this year on my own and I hope to god I meet some lovely people there who will keep me company on the run around. It’s only 5k (just over three miles / 5468 yards / 16404 feet) which might not seem like a lot. I know that some guys in my team are doing a mountain challenge for WaterAid (a charity that my company sponsor) this weekend and that’s more along the lines of 17k…uphill… so what I’m doing is far easier (good luck you guys!). But for me, being in such crap shape and never really getting off my arse other than to get food or go to work – running 5k is somewhat of a big deal to me.
I decided to run this year because of a few reasons. First is having my grandma stop with me for 10 days while my parents went away to Egypt. We stayed up until midnight most nights talking about her journey through cancer (and lots of other topics which I found hilarious, my grandma’s a funny onion). It really made me realize how much of a strong woman she really is! She’s knocking on now and won’t listen to what anyone has to say – she told the doctor to go ‘shove it’ when he asked her to cut out salt from her diet to reduce risk of rising cholesterol. ‘well if I’ve made it this far eating what I want, I can’t be doing too bad’ she says. Though she has had cancer at least twice, that I am aware of, and beat it both times. Me and my brother say that grandma’s going to live forever, she’s not going anywhere!
Next reason is the amount of family members I have had pass away from the disease. My Auntie Doreen was a big impact with my mum caring for her as the cancer got worse and seeing the colour of her skin fade, and having to be bead-bound. One that hit me the hardest was my Granddad passing. I remember my dad coming to my house to give us the news. I kept a straight face until he left, then went to my room and sobbed to the point I could have filled an ocean. I won’t go into any more details on that one, it makes me well up just thinking about it. But he was a good man, my granddad – funniest person you would have ever met.
A final reason is I know of so many people, friends and colleagues, that have partners or friends that are suffering from cancer – or are suffering themselves. It’s heartbreaking to see the effect it’s having on not just the person suffering, but their family and friends. The worry, the pain, the stress. Cancer ruins not just one life, but all that surround it.
I fear that one day I may be diagnosed – it’s in both bloodlines of my family so it’s not impossible. All the work and effort that has gone into this kind of research makes the idea a little more bearable. We’ve found treatments and cures for so many forms of cancer and the way we deal with it is fantastic! But there’s still a long way to go, research wise, into finding the overall cure for cancer. But remember, always check yourself. I’ve been taught from a young age on how to check myself for cancerous lumps and to make sure I do it regularly – so I check every time I get in the shower. Check out these websites for tips (they're all clickable :D) -
If you are interested or want to know about any other form of self-checks or cancer, there’s a ton of information readily available online - but please please please go see your doctor/GP if you are worried.
If any of you are kind enough to part with some cash, please sponsor me for Sunday. You can do so on my just giving page. It’s secure and completely safe and all donations go straight to the cause, and if you do donate some money, I want to say a big THANK YOU in advance.
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