In 2020, just before lockdown, my husband, Dougie, was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. He had surgery and is having ongoing treatment. Thankfully, at the moment, his condition is stable and he’s feeling well.
It’s been a tough few years as we’ve come to terms with his condition. At a time when the world stopped for the pandemic, our world was also put on hold. Dougie would travel to London on his own for scans, often the only person on the train. He recovered from his surgery by taking regular walks and getting back to ‘normal’ as much as he could. We’ve continued to travel when we can but just taking short breaks in the UK.
Dougie hasn’t gone public with all of this before, so I’ve not blogged about it. But he’s now keen to raise funds for the charity, Neuroendocrine Cancer UK. As the cancer is fairly rare, the charity is small and relies on donations to continue its valuable work.
Neuroendocrine Cancer UK Virtual Pathway Challenge
The charity is challenging people to walk/run/cycle to cover a combined distance which is equivalent to a journey stopping at all the UK neuroendocrine cancer centres starting in Aberdeen and ending in Leamington Spa, the charity’s HQ. Whilst most of the journey will be completed by fundraisers totting up their own miles wherever they happen to be, the final stretch of the walk, between Coventry and Leamington Spa is going to be a specific walk in November with members of the charity’s team between the two locations. If all is well, we hope to join them in person on that final day. As our son, Rory, lives in Coventry he’s promised to join us there (though he hasn’t quite said yet whether that will be at the beginning or end of the walk!).
I will walk 500 miles and I will walk 500 more
Inspired by one of our favourite duos, The Proclaimers, we plan to each complete 500 miles. We’ll try and do our 1000 miles over the next few months, walking locally or when on holiday, adding to the miles with some regular exercise bike sessions! We’d be grateful for any support but please don’t think you have to donate. A rude message to hoist us off the sofa will be very welcome!
The link to our page on the charity’s challenge is here… Neuroendocrine Cancer UK Virtual Pathway Challenge
Why the zebras?
And if you’re wondering about the zebras – students in medical school are taught that when they hear the sound of hooves, they should think horses, not zebras. In other words, look for the common not the uncommon or rare. The zebra is therefore used to represent rare cancers to remind people that the uncommon does exist and should not be overlooked.
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