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On May 23rd 2016 our family life was shaken when my husband, Matthew (41), underwent an endoscopy and was found to have a large tumour at the base of his oesophagus. We then had a anxious month of tests to stage the tumour to determine if there was a chance of curative treatment. His was eventually put at a stage 3. A stage 4 tumour would have meant no curative treatment available to him. Phew.

His acute symptoms of feeling a blockage when he swallowed and eventually vomiting at every meal had started at least 6 months before diagnosis. The GP was reluctant to do an endoscopy saying it was unpleasant and that the symptoms were "unlikely to be caused by anything sinister". By April 2016  I had had enough and went with Matthew to the GP and insisted on an endoscopy in a hope to rule this out. Having worked as a nurse in Oncology for 12 years the anxious little voice in my head was getting louder by then. 

Rewind many years and Matthew had suffered with heartburn and indigestion on and off since we first met (me 20 him 24). Gaviscon and Rennies were always to be found around the place and it was normal for him. I can't help but think that he had likely lived with a precancerous but irritated Oesophagus for most of our time together.  

So 2016 was a long summer of intensive chemo, daily radiotherapy for 5 weeks and eventually a major operation in October 2016 that has left him with minimal oesophagus and a much smaller stomach now placed up high in his chest. The histology downgraded his tumour to a stage 2 and he did not require any "mop up" chemo. Almost 3 years on and other than some post surgical issues, Matthew is well. 

But our family won't look at the future the same again. We live in the knowledge that if his cancer returned, or reappeared somewhere else there is no curative treatment available. This is the cloud that hangs over anyone who has experienced this cruel and unpredictable disease. We are lucky to have him with us, for our two boys to have their dad, and we don't take this for granted. 

I can't help but think back to those years of minor indigestion that our culture and society normalise and think - could he have been screened then and a precancerous condition been identified and the threat removed? This is why I have chosen this specific charity to run the Bath Half for. Heartburn Cancer UK want to raise awareness of heartburn and educate the public and health professionals about the danger of living with persistent heartburn and self medicating without investigating the underlying cause. It is a small but national charity with a target of raising £150k to raise awareness of Barrett's Oesophagus - a potentially pre-cancerous condition of the oesophagus and raise awareness of the risk of persistant heartburn. It is estimated that 500,000 people are living with this condition in the UK with the majority unaware. This charity has played a key role in developing an easily available test for Oesophageal cancer (Cytosponge) which could be rolled out GP surgeries providing a cheaper and less invasive diagnostic test at an earlier point.

Too many people are diagnosed with Cancer of the Oesophagus at a stage when it has already spread in the body and therefore is not able to be cured. 

Running the Bath Half is a huge challenge for me. For a start I have just turned the big 40! Before training for this I had never run further than a 5km (3 miles) so to extend this by a further 10 miles is a real challenge. As is training all over the winter no matter what the weather!

So please consider sponsoring me for what I hope you will agree is a worthwhile cause. We have raised money for Cancer Research over the past 2 years, but now I hope to move upstream and support a charity aiming to prevent the cancer in the first place.

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