Life contemplation, Lefty style

Well this is it. My last post as a Twenty-Nine year old!

Any attempts to let this birthday slide by quietly were scuppered this morning when I walked into work to find my desk covered (and I mean covered) in banners, balloons and glitter.

People I don’t even know are currently wishing me a happy birthday as they pass by my desk! (It’s actually not till Tuesday folks!)

So for this week’s post I thought maybe I should contemplate the milestone that is turning 30.

You know, assess my life so far, decide what I want for the future do some soul searching and bare my feeling to you all…

Yeah… needless to say I got no further than three lines into that before I abandoned it in favour of Hollyoaks and half a packet of chocolate buttons…

Turns out my desk this morning sums it all up better than I ever could. Glitter, sparkles and lovely surprises. (Oh and a card that quotes Shakespeare. Well done people!)

Who cares where my life is heading? Who cares where it’s been? So long as there is birthday cake all is right with the world (There is cake, right? Someone has remembered cake? Mum?)

I have a week off work now to lounge about and enjoy myself (you know the usual - reading, writing, watching America's Next Top Model...) but my real birthday treat isn't until the 16th June, where I will be heading off to the Harry Potter studio tours!

Yep. This is what real grown-ups do on their birthdays!

Am quite ridiculously excited about this - have been dreaming of running amok in Diagon Alley since I was seventeen! I promise pictures and stories galore when I get back (unless of course I just decide to live there forever...)

In other news, I had a lovely message yesterday telling me I had been nominated for a Versatile Blogger award!

Watch this space for my own nominations – and thank you very much for the nomination Amy!

Hope you all have a fantastic Jubilee weekend, and I will catch up with you in a week!

Laura

PS – Don’t forget Race for Life is on the 9^th – you can still sponsor me here! Thanks!

A Race Worth Running

A few months ago I blogged about my idea for this years Race for Life. My aim was not only to raise as much money as I could but to also cover my t-shirt with the names nominated by my sponsors. You can find the original post here.

There’s no denying that Race for Life is a very emotional affair, and for those who have lost someone to cancer it be a very therapeutic experience.

However it’s not all sadness, lets not forget that the race is primarily a fundraiser! A fundraiser which goes on to support Cancer Research, which means better treatment options for those who find themselves fighting The Big C.

One person facing such a fight is Gail Lautieri, and this is her story.

I was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney in November 2011. After a long ten week wait I had a radical nephrectomy on January 16, 2012. From the histology, the tumour was classed as grade 4 and, at a whopping 10cm, you can imagine how grateful I was that my fabulous surgeon was able to do the op laparoscopically. There is only one thing more shocking than being told you have cancer, and that is being told you have secondaries. My follow up scan 6 weeks later revealed lung mets on both sides with numerous spots. I was advised by my consultant in Cheltenham that I would be prescribed Sutent, a type of chemotherapy, to try to keep it stable.

Prognosis? On average they give you a couple of years on it before it becomes ineffectual – then what?

As some of you will know, I've been researching my cancer and the possible treatments available for it with the painstaking meticulousness of a prospector panning for gold. Knowledge is power and when death stares you straight in the face, you would do anything to hang on to life.

Through my research I found two cancer forums, one here in the UK and one in the States. Both offered invaluable info and support and more than anything, the word we all cling to - HOPE.

The treatment everyone on the forums was shouting loudest about was HDIL-2: High-Dose Interleukin-2. A tough treatment done widely in the US but very hard to find in the UK. For some it has even offered long term remission, for others it doesn't work. My research showed a glimmer of hope. I was pointed in the direction of Professor Robert Hawkins, of the Christie Hospital in Manchester (UK) one of our top renal specialists and I fought hard to get a referral up to see him.

The day of my consultation with 'the Prof' (as he is fondly known by his staff and those who have been treated by him), was a glorious cloudless blue. It felt like the first day of summer – in the South of France. It was also the day when I knew that this was my chance to try to regain my life. It just felt right... I knew that, as tough as it sounded, this was the treatment I had to try.

Through this entire process I have discovered I have an indomitable determination to live. I have found reserves of energy and positivity I never thought I had.  So much of this I owe to the incredible support I have been receiving from my family, friends and people I've encountered out-and-about and online. The journey so far has been – both painful and inspirational. I have witnessed the very best of human kindness, and a love and care I thought only existed in dreams.

A phone call Thursday confirmed that I had passed all the stress tests and that my tissue type matched the required profile... So I was offered the one bed that would be allocated for HDIL-2 treatment – starting Monday April 16th. 

This news filled me with excitement, gratitude and dread. I scrambled to book up accommodation for Franco (my husband); organised my daughters to ensure their week 'home alone' would be as straightforward as possible; got the shopping in, and tried to remember everything else that would be needed to ensure 'week one' of treatment in Manchester would go as well as it could.

Back to the treatment, (for the squeamish of you, look away now as I explain what I am about to put myself through). A week as an inpatient receiving 8 hourly doses of HDIL-2 through a PICC line right into my heart. The treatment is known as immunotherapy (or bake, shake and flake – as it's known in the US!). Basically, it's trying to kick start my own immune system into killing the cancer cells. During this time the side effects I can expect are the rigors, fever, flu like aches and pains, nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, skin peeling, headaches, water retention, weight gain, low blood pressure and a risk to both my heart and lungs. Not very jolly – but the alternative? After week one, I have a week back home, followed by a second week back in hospital, when this is repeated all over again. Then I am back home for 2 months, after which time, I'll be scanned and then the cycle starts all over again. This could continue for over a year if treatment is showing to be working.

This right here is why I run every year. This is why fundraising is so important – to provide hope.

You can find Gail’s own blog here. Currently updated by husband Franco it very poignantly details the progress of Gail’s HDIL-2 treatment.

And you can find my Just Giving page here.

Thanks for reading and have a good week folks,

Laura

Cancer Research - The Training begins!

The race looms closer… On June 9^th I will be running the Cancer Research Race for Life – and yes I actually plan to run it!

So I thought I’d best get some training in if I’m to make it all the way around this course in one piece, and after a few trial runs to scope out the area I have finally found myself a nice little route.

Little being the word! Turns out, once I actually measured the distance, it is a puny 2.5k! Which is half the length I will need to run on the day!

Still at least it has given me some idea of what I’m aiming for – am currently pooped before I’m halfway round!

Good thing I have 13 weeks to build up some stamina!

Sponsorship is ticking along nicely – I plan to get some fabric pens this weekend to start decorating my t-shirt with the first messages – pictures to follow!

If you want to take part in my t-shirt challenge and have someone remembered, or want to tell to world you beat cancer, please head over to my just giving page Here!

Thank you all, you lovely people.

Laura

Race For Life - The Challenge!

Last year I ran the Cancer Research Race for Life and raised £253! Which was a good start. So this year I thought I’d double that!

For those who don’t know, Race for Life is the largest women-only fundraising event in the UK, and has been running (ha ha – running - gettit?) since 1994.

Anyone who has been to an event will know they can be pretty emotional affairs! The sheer diversity of entrants is always inspiring, as they run, walk or get pushed round the course in their buggy. It’s a wonderful event in which people come together to share their sorrows, their triumphs, but mostly their fighting spirit!

This will actually be the fourth time I have run for Cancer Research and for some reason I always struggle with what to write on the ‘I’m running for…’ banner you pin to your back. I don’t know why I struggle with this, it’s not like I don’t have a reason – like most people I have had personal experiences, and have lost someone very close to cancer.

Like almost everyone.

I think that’s the problem.

I am no different to anyone else.

If you can put your hand up and say you honestly don’t know anyone who has been affected by cancer in some way, then you have led a very blessed (and possibly quite isolated!) life.

If on the other hand you are one of the millions worldwide who have suffered, have lost someone, or have come out fighting the other side - then I am running this race for you.

So I’m scrapping the banner this year – it’s too darn small. Instead what I will be doing is selling space on this here t-shirt.

Anyone who sponsors me, buys themselves a message space – all messages will be written on here and worn with pride.

So if you would like your memories and well-wishes paraded around Lydiard Park in three months time go here to my just giving page.

 You can leave me your message details there, or by commenting on this blog post. You can also find me on twitter @lm_the_sarge and contact me there.

And if I run out of room on the t-shirt, I will write on my socks as well.

PS Training began this week – Updates to follow!