My Story!!!

Now you are here donating LOTS of money I hope, please feel free to read my page and I hope that you learn a little bit about me personally and my reasons for doing this crazy race once again!

I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer at the age of 29 on an average Wednesday afternoon when all my friends were at work and my then Fiancée was in France with a school trip.  Needless to say being 29 and a 'fit' PE teacher the C word didn't ever enter my head let alone the TC words!  In sporting terms I was knocked for 6, I staggered back to school in a daze and informed the Head teacher and my close colleagues, who have been AMAZING in their support during my fight with this horrible illness.

I was quickly referred to a cancer specialist who decided that the only course of action was to remove the cancer and that meant.... you guessed it....saying goodbye to my right testicle.  This all happened in under 2 weeks and before I knew it I thought I was on the road to a full recovery and I'd be back on the football field in no time.  But as I was recovering from the operation tests were done on the tumour and it was discovered that the tumour had the potential to spread to other areas of my body and the fight against this illness had really only just begun....

Side-tracked:

That was when ORCHID stepped in and a nurse at the hospital gave me leaflets and a website that gave me a lot of information and ORCHID managed to answer all of the millions of questions going through my head.  I was so thankful to have this information as it helped put my mind at rest and it wasn't until I was diagnosed that I found out that Testicular Cancer affects men from 17-35 the majority of the time.  This is a YOUNG MANS CANCER and now having found that out I want to help raise awareness to other young men who may be thinking they have questions about their manhood but may be too shy to ask or think that 'it can't happen to them'

Back to my story...

Having found out this information my specialist put me in an unusual category of being at the 'top of the low risk category and the bottom of the high risk category'!!!!!!  What did this mean? I was thinking but it didn't matter what I thought, chemotherapy was the only thing my specialist was thinking.  Now, if you know of anyone close to you who has been through chemotherapy then you do not need me to tell you it is THE worst thing to happen to the body.  I cannot begin to explain the drugs, sickness, tiredness, lack of energy, more drugs, poisons and the list goes on that goes into and comes out of your body.  At times I felt like a water balloon ready to burst and others I felt like a 'rusty metal pole falling to the ground' (this was one of my hallucinations during the chemotherapy!  I lost my hair....everywhere...... and for those who know me know that this is a lot of hair!!!!!!  But I kept smiling and wanting to get through this and see the other side.

Side-tracked:

In between chemotherapy sessions my Fiancée and I decided that we would get married and we did exactly that on 11th of June 2011 at 11am.  You could say that 11 has become my lucky number since then and my wife Anne-lise is definitely my lucky charm.  She has been great beyond words in supporting me from Day 1 and continues to do so.

Having finished chemotherapy and being told 'that's it, we don't need to see you anymore' I felt like the greatest man in the world, the doctors said I was recovering but I heard 'you are better' so I wanted to immediately get back to school and get back to coaching football but this meant I had to get fit and over the summer of 2011 I decided I wanted to run..... After my first run of 3 minutes (I ran the marathon in 2007 so I can run longer than 3 minutes!) I didn't understand why I could not run and why I was so tired.  Stubbornly I was telling myself I was better but I soon realised I was recovering!!!

2012 has been brilliant in my recovery, each day I feel stronger and finally I am getting back to the Dan Rose of Pre-Testicular Cancer and this got me thinking, now is the time to give something back and what better way than to do something completely mad and redo something I thought I'd ticked off of my life achievements and run the marathon AGAIN!  I was kicked into action and inspired to do something good by a good friend of mine and his fight against illness during the same time as me.  David Randall was a great person who fought cancer during the same year as me; we went through a lot of the same symptoms together and shared some stories of chemotherapy and other things as we were fighting.  Unfortunately Dave's fight was a lot tougher than mine and although he gave it everything he could he eventually passed away earlier this year.  Many people who knew Dave will say 1 word INSPIRATIONAL, and that is what he was to me.  So now, as I pound the pavements and get those miles in my legs I will often think of my fight and Dave's and think I CAN do this and I WILL do this for both Dave and myself.

This is just a short version of events and there are many other things I would like to say, so many people supported me through this fight and if I said thanks to all of them you would all stop reading as the list is endless.  A massive thanks to Plume School in Maldon for giving me all the time I needed to recover and a massive thanks to my wife who is the only one who has seen ALL the pain and suffering and was always supporting me and stroking my bald head!  I will do this and if you know me I will try to do the best time I possibly can, but please if you can give whatever you can afford and help me get closer to my total.

I have been inspired to get fit and raise money for a charity that helped to support me and my family through a horrible 2011 when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer.  The charity does great work to raise awareness amongst young men and support both those diagnosed with male cancers and those close to the sufferers.  Your donation would be greatly received and you will be helping me help others fight their way through this horrible time just like I have done and continue to do.

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