Another 365er completes her 365challenge ...

On Sunday, January 23rd 2011, 3 days ahead of her target finish date of January 26th, Australia Day, another of our 365ers has completed her 365challenge successfully.

Heather Kelly, an Aussie living here in Chester, England, contacted me just over a year ago to find out how she could take on a 365challenge to support Cancer Research UK. We kicked around a few ideas, and then Heather came back to me with her final plan. And I was stunned at its ambition!

She wanted to create something that helped connect her with her homeland, so … quite simply … she decided she was going to walk from her hometown of Geelong, just outside Melbourne on the south coast to Australia’s northern-most point at Cape York in Queensland … just 3000 miles along the east coast of this enormous country! That’s an average of 8 MILES A DAY! She told me she loved to walk and usually walked at least 4 miles most days anyway, but this was going to need a bit more of an effort on her part.

And you know what? She’s ploughed through the miles, in all weathers, and on Sunday, I was honoured to be asked to join her and a few friends for her final few miles. We successfully negotiated the river, canal and cycleways around Chester on a mild January afternoon to cross that incredible finish line … 3000 miles walked in ONE YEAR, raising, so far, £1130 for the wonderful work of Cancer Research UK (you can add to that total if you want to … click through here to her JustGiving page to donate)

We then adjourned to The Ship Inn in Handbridge in Chester for a celebratory tipple to acknowledge Heather’s wonderful effort.

Congratulations, Heather, that is an amazing achievement and you’ve done the 365challenge proud. Thanks for being willing to take it on and now … put your feet up for a few days and have a well-earned rest … before you set your sights once more on this year’s SHINE night marathon walk for CRUK in Manchester May 1st! What a trooper 

2/3rd of the way through chemo ... and still running (well, just a bit!)

On Wednesday, May 19th, I completed my 4th session of chemotherapy, which completed my 2nd cycle (2 sessions per cycle), leaving just one more cycle to go (hooray!). As long as I can have the treatments as scheduled, on June 2nd and 16th, I'll be done this part of my treatment! After that, I'll have a scan to see if there are any nasties lurking, and depending on the outcome of that scan, I may or may not need further chemo or possibly radiotherapy ... so there is a real chance that all of this will be done and dusted by the end of the summer ... here's hoping, eh?

I've found the chemo generally to have gone well. There is a pattern to the effects. For a couple of days afterwards, I'm fine, then by the end of day 2 post-treatment, my energy levels begin to flag. Mornings seem okay-ish, but by lunchtime, I can feel like a wrung-out cloth, and just need to sleep, which I do for a couple of hours usually. This weariness lasts for about 7 days, and then I start to gradually feel I can do things again, usually for about 5 days before I have to go for my next treatment, when the cycle starts all over again. 

I've mostly been fortunate not to suffer from nausea following the treatment, though on this last treatment, when I had only my second (once monthly) dose of Pentamine, which is given with an inhaler in an isolated room as it is so toxic, I really struggled. Pentamine was prescribed for me as my neutrophils (key white blood cells, vital for fighting infection) had dropped significantly following chemo, possibly in part due to some tablets I'd been prescribed as part of the treatment. The Pentamine was prescribed instead of the tablets and seemed to work, but this time ... uh-uh! It was a real struggle inhaling it, I felt nauseous after just a few puffs, but persevered with it for about 10 minutes, on and off, until I couldn't take any more. I left the room and spoke to one of the nurses, who spoke to the consultant, who said "STOP!" Got about half of the dose in, so we'll have to see if it worked, but I walked home from the hospital yesterday pretty shaken by that one. Hopefully I won't have to have it again, as it is only monthly and by the time it is next due, I'll have completed my final chemo cycle. Fingers crossed.

The other promising news about the treatment, however, is that when I saw the Senior House Officer a couple of weeks ago, he gave my neck a thorough physical examination and announced that he couldn't find any evidence of the lump that started this whole episode! So that was great news ... clearly the chemo has broken up the nasty little bugger, but we'll have to wait for the scan to see if it has killed it off completely ... here's hoping.

On to other things now ... while clearly, I'm not my super-fit self any longer what with being put through the wringer every fortnight, when I DO find I have some energy, I have been able to get a few runs in still, adding just a few more miles to my 365challenge total. Yesterday, Thursday morning, the day after my last chemo, I managed a 3.5 mile run, but my total for April and May to date is only about 32 miles, so I suspect I'll have to extend my challenge this time ... I hope you can all understand why ... :)

As for the "will he or won't he lose his hair" bet scam ... well, I'm delighted to tell you that so far, 4 treatments in, I still have a full head of hair (see last blog post for photo evidence - hope its not too shocking for you all). Even better though, is the fact that this little ruse has raised a whopping £935 so far to add to my personal 365challenge pot! Now, I'm just £134.45 short of hitting the £10K mark, which would be quite a milestone. If you'd like to help make that happen, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/365challenge or go and read that "hair challenge" blog first for a laugh!

Overall, the 365challenge has now raised over £30K for Cancer Research UK, and there is more to come ... further announcements soon, I hope. As part of further promotions for the 365challenge, I've recorded a series of videos that you can watch on YouTube anytime. I'd love to hear what you think, so when you have a moment, maybe you'll pop along and have a look - if you click on the "3 videos" tag just below the title on that page, you'll see the other videos in the series ...  there are some other 365 videos listed down the side of the page, however, that are NOTHING TO DO with my effort, so please don't worry about them!

Well ... I'll stop there, I think ... there is more, but I'll save that for the next time. Feel free to send thoughts, questions or comments, as I love to hear what people think about these adventures of mine! 'Til next time ... stay well, and please, if you find a lump ... get it checked out. Believe me, early treatment can make ALL the difference.

Cheers for now

Colin