September 2nd will be my forty-tenth birthday, so I've decided to take a walk to the pub for a pint of beer. Let me tell you why.....
Amanda heard the silent killer but didn't understand what it was saying. Trouble was, nor did some of her doctors.
My wife learnt that she had ovarian cancer in the spring of 2002. Abdominal pains; swollen stomach; unexplained infertility; this was what Amanda had heard from her body. "Gluten intolerence...irritable bowel syndrome...take these drugs" was what she heard in response from the medical community, until an investigative operation revealed the killer. But "silent"?
After a recurrence of the disease in 2004, an appearance on BBC TV's Breakfast Time show - bloated and bald from the effects of chemotherapy - to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, three major operations, twelve cycles of chemotherapy and countless hospital visits, appointments with specialists, scans, tests and other general disruptions to a normal way of life, Amanda's consultant declared her "cured" last summer, eight years after she was first diagnosed.
Her cure wasn't just about conventional medicine though. Complementary therapies, nutritional and dietary change, and a lifestyle re-evaluation all played a role in her recovery alongside the clinical care overseen by her enlightened oncologist. (Thank you, Dr. Harper!)
Amanda was lucky to be diagnosed early. The UK has one of the worst ovarian cancer survival rates in the developed world.
So I've decided to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Action (and celebrate my 50th birthday!) by going for a pint of beer.....in Britain's most remote pub!
The Old Forge at Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula is accessible by boat from Mallaig, at the end of the road and railway line west from Fort William. But I’m not going by boat. On September 1st, my last-ever day as a forty-something, I will set out alone on foot from Glenfinnan to trek across 28 miles of some of the wildest and most remote terrain in the Western Highlands of Scotland. By the end of the day I aim to reach a remote bothy (a basic stone shelter), 12 miles to the north, where I shall spend the night. The following morning, as a 50-year old(!), I will head west to cover the remaining 16 miles to Inverie where I shall enjoy my birthday pint (or pints!) of beer in The Old Forge. And then collapse in the Bunkhouse!!!
Don't expect a running commentary from me en route though. There's no mobile phone coverage where I'm going. As one account of the route puts it: "If you break a leg, you crawl to a stream (for water), wrap up warm, and wait."
I'm doing this because of Amanda, not for her. I want to help Ovarian Cancer Action fund critical research and raise awareness that the "silent" killer can be heard. I'm doing this for your wife, mother, sister, daughter, grand-daughter.....so that hopefully they can choose to go on journeys that will have happy endings (like a pint of beer!), rather than be forced by the silent killer onto a journey that more often than not, won't.
I'm looking forward to my pint of beer in The Old Forge. And it's your round. Please spare the price of a pint (or several!) for Ovarian Cancer Action.
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