We will be having a great fun night of fun and laughter.....folks I will apologize now for when I get on the dance floor to do my dance moves....it's not clever, it's not pretty and it's probably not all that safe...but hey I enjoy myself lol!!! Some of the food is going to be made and donated by Jeannie, Gillian,Caroline and Giggly Sue...thank you girls...I really appreciate it :) Tickets will be on sale on the night for a luxury food hamper and the grand prize draw for the 32" LCD TV,Dab radio and bottle of Champagne. Good luck to everyone who has bought a ticket :) And our very own Hero Dave who has volunteered to be waxed for donations....so come on folks be very generous for his pain!!
Everyday when I get up I think about the support I have from all of you who take time out of your lives to read my blog, share it on FB and retweet it out to help spread a positive message and raise awareness. Help organize events, turn up and join in the events, help sell the bands, raffle tickets....talk about War on Cancer with family,friends and colleagues,and last but certainly not least help raise awareness....and I feel so happy, proud and overwhelmed!
Thank you one and all....you will never understand how much it means to me, you all help me to achieve my dreams of helping others who have gone through, are going through or will go through cancer in the future. I as you know went through the invasive treatments and fully appreciate and understand how important the support of all the staff is, when having chemo...the staff in HODU become your family and the bonds you make with fellow patients and staff are strong. Even now when I go for a check up at the hospital... I love to go see all the wonderful nurses in HODU. I love that I can give something back and will continue to do my utmost in the future.
I have had on a personal level a year of ups and downs! It started off with all our training ( 5 months) for our Walk the Walk London Moonwalk...we Team L'Oreal ( Jeannie, Sue, Helen, Caroline and myself ) had a fantastic time, it's really hard to put into words how amazing a time we had. It's unbelievable to look out over what can only be described as a sea of pink as 15,000 people walk 26.2 miles all in the name of breast cancer! it was great to see so many guys doing it in their bras too! unlike Race for Life which is a women only event( which I don't agree with...guys get breast cancer too!) it's also the fact they can do it in support of a loved one. It was worth all the training.
About 10 miles in I became very unwell with various things, I had felt light headed and nearly passed out a couple of times I had a pounding headache, pains in my neck,lower back and pelvic pains. I was bloating up and I had had problems with my ankle supports ( I had to take them off ), I knew this was going to cause me problems with my right ankle....since I ruptured it back in 06 I have had occasional issues, but knew it was going to be painful with walking the 26.2 miles, hell it was painful even with the support on during the training. I have to say London like all big cities is not a good place when you are wanting to be sick there are not many tree's to be found!
When we got to the 22 mile marker I was most definitely running on pure determination and my stubbornness! every mile from there I had to stop about 4 times to try and ease the pain in my back, I was really fatigued and had the mother of all blisters on my foot too! But even though I was in all honesty in a right state, I knew no matter what I was going to complete the Moonwalk...it was afterall the first challenge I had set myself while still having my chemo. I would seriously have crawled over the finish line if needed!
It was overwhelming to cross the line holding hands with Jeannie and Sue..yep we had done it! This was a massive high...even though I had been so unwell for the majority, I was over the moon at completing my first personal challenge.....the fact my partner and friends wanted to do it with me made it all the better! It's a memory I will always cherish.
It took me over a month to recover from the Moonwalk but was definitely worth it....Team L'Oreal raised over £1000.00 doing this most worthy event.
The second challenge I had set myself was to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro for cancer...I decided 2012 was the year...I have said for every year I get the ok at my check ups at the breast clinic I will do a new challenge.
This is where War on Cancer was born. I decided if I was going to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro as my personal challenge...then I might as well try to raise money for cancer charities at the same time. I chose Walk the Walk breast cancer and Clic Sargent children's cancer charities this time.So up to the actual climb in 2012 I said we will do various fund raising events to raise money for these very worthy charities, have fun along the way and involve as many people as possible, it's not just about raising money but also awareness. My aim has always been to show that you can live a full and challenging life whilst surviving cancer...maybe you have to adjust some of your goals, but life is for living, not just surviving! A target of raising £10,000 has been set and I am confident we will make it!
On my health side it hasn't been the best of times in the last 18 months. I have had many problems with lower pelvic and back pains. When I had my 6 month check up at the breast clinic in March, it was agreed that I would change my cancer drug from Tamoxifen to Letrozole because of the side effects I had been suffering from for the last 13 months, I felt they were that bad it was affecting my quality of life and I really couldn't face another 4 years of it. I didn't know until I got an appointment through that I had to have a DEXA scan, this is a scan to measure your bone density, Letrozole causes amongst other problems Osteoporosis. So my logic behind this scan was that I would go have it done and that would give my doctors the base data to check against future scans to determine over the next few years if the Letrozole did indeed affect my bone density. A decent logic I thought!
My GP phoned me 3 weeks later to tell me to go in to see them. The results had come back and I had already got Osteoporosis! to say I was shocked is a massive understatement! I said to the doctor, are you sure the results are right? am I not too young to have Osteo?...yes I was not very informed about Osteoporosis at all...the only thing I knew was that it can cause your bones to break easily.....I really thought it was an illness that affected older people. I asked my doctor if it was just starting and she said no, it's full blown.
I had by the time we hit June had had 7 lots of antibiotics this year due to bladder infections, I had a laparoscopy in May as they couldn't say what was causing my pelvic and lower back pains.... the good news from the laparoscopy was that there were no signs of ovarian cancer :) This was great news but didn't solve the problems about my pelvic and back pains. I was referred to a consultant and was then sent for further tests.The tests confirmed I have a problem that has developed with my bladder so now on medication, I will see my consultant in January to see if medication levels need adjusting, he said he will try and keep the side effects to a minimum!
When I have just had my second check up of the year at the breast clinic we talked about the sore and stiff joints I have and a general bone ache the pain in my lower back never eases off these days, it bothers me whether I am sitting, standing or walking....he has contacted my GP to arrange a referral to a Rhuematologist, he doesn't think it's my cancer drug ( it's one of the side effects ) but needs checking out by a specialist. ( I really don't care who looks into it, I would love the pain in my back to go...even if it was just for a week or two! ). My GP ordered a load of blood tests which I had done last week, I go for the results on Wednesday and then await my referral.
But the great thing in between all of this is the fact we have held a few events and so far raised £1352.00! next year War on Cancer will be going all out to achieve that target. I have already started thinking about my challenge for 2013.....these things need plenty of planning! I know I want to do something in the USA.....
Thank you all for showing your support, I will be looking into whether to register War on Cancer as it's own charity early next year... I will keep you all informed.
War on Cancer I believe sums up who I am and what my life is about it is a great personal motivator as are the challenges I set myself. I hope you carry on enjoying the events we do, it is afterall about having lots of fun too!
Everyday I get up and smile, after been diagnosed with a life threatening illness I believe everyday is a bonus and I plan to make the most. I will try and knock things off my bucket list and will continue to raise money not just for research but to help make people feel as comfortable as possible whilst going through their treatments.
Thank you all for helping me realize my dream of doing this, you will never understand how much it means.
Until next time
Tracy x
You are a true inspiration Tracy, and beautiful inside and out. You are simply one of the most genuine people I know and am very proud to call you my friend. Giggly Sue. xx
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