Sadly, Cancer touches far too many families, I know that all of my fellow team mates have also been touched in some way by this dreadful disease and here are our stories...

Lees story
It was about this time last year that my wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, aged 43.  Prior to her diagnosis Marcia was fit and healthy, the previous weekend she ran the MK half marathon, she hardly ever drunk alcohol, she never smoked and I can't remember the last time she was sick with anything (other than yours truly!) 

It was a really shit time for both of us, we had lots of questions and not many answers.  There is a hugh amount of information to take in and decisions need to be made,  just at the time when you are emotionally knackered and not really thinking rationally.  It's also true that although you have questions, you're not sure whether you really want to ask them as you don't really want to know the answer!  Marcia went through a barrage of scans and tests, although that's wasn't the worst part, waiting for results is truly awful!

In the early days we decided not to tell the family or kids, mainly because they would want and need answers and we couldn't give them because we just didn't know ourselves, and it would only make them worry more.  Once we had all the information, just a couple of days before surgery, we decided to tell them all.  Not a fun time at all!

Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not pleasant - indeed they are meant to cut out the cancer and kill off any remaining cancer cells, and it takes 6 months to go through the process. 

Going to the chemo ward showed me that cancer is indiscrimate, it doesn't matter whether you're old or young, black or white, male or female - the chemo ward was always busy and as one patient left, another arrived!

You have plenty of time to reflect on the chemo ward, especially as Marcia went for the 'cold cap' to try and keep her hair.   For those that don't know this is a modern day torture, you put a cap on with pipes that run very cold liquid through it to take the temperature down to around -5 (I guess the clue is in the name).   She then had to sit with this on for about 3 hours, it got so cold that it left lumps of ice on her hair and when it's time to take it off you have to let it thaw out for 10 minutes otherwise it would pull your hair out!  I have massive respect for anyone who goes through this, I can't even put a cold wrap on a sports injury without bitching! (thankfully my days of sports injuries are declining..)

Thankfully, we are now nearly at the stage of the first checkup and have appointments scheduled with the surgeon and oncologist so the 'fun' isn't over yet.

The reason I share all of this, and I'm sure our story is no different to thousands of others, is to illustrate that if you are unfortunate enough to get cancer you will go through shit times, you will need information, you will need support, you will have questions and you will need somebody to talk to.

This challenge for me is to simply to help Macmillan help more people.

Andys Story
I am really up for supporting this (although I'm pretty crap at golf!) My Dad successfully overcame prostrate cancer a few years ago.

Stevens Story
My Mum, Grandad and Father-in-Law have all had some form of cancer over the years.   Thankfully with recent developments in treatment and continuing research both my Mum and Father-in-Law survived their cancers.

Unfortunately for my Grandad, who managed to survice World War 2, wasn't so lucky when it came to his fight with Cancer!

I am raising money to help the research that will one day eradicate this terrible disease and to help those that will suffer with cancer in the future.

Alberts Story
The news affected not just his immediate family, but also his closest friends. Not knowing what to say or do, feeling helpless and numb, all I could offer was my support and encouragement to the two of them. His
wife's journey to recovery was a long and painful one -  but one she tackled with immense strength and resilience. Yet throughout her treatment, she was an inspiration to me and my wife - a hero who despite the long car journeys to see her Onocologist, the painful and tiring days when she was physically drained, coupled with the many tablets and medication she had to take, she took each day, each week and each month with dignity and grace. We all knew that she
would come through.

Now that she has made a complete recovery, with aspects of
her life beginning to have some normality, the event in which we are partaking to raise funds to eradicate all forms of cancer, only serves us as a reminder that we have not yet passed the finishing line.

They say that 1 in 3 people will be affected in some way by
some form of cancer and yet we all know that statistic is way too high. 

Lets all do something about it...

Please donate whatever you can to help prevent someone you
love experiencing the same.

The Challenge
In terms of the challenge, a normal round of golf (18 holes) takes around 4 hours.  72 holes is 4 rounds and about 16 hours of golf.  1 round is roughly 5 miles (longer when I play due to the zig-zagging!) so we will be walking around 20 miles.  On a good round, I hit around 90 shots so 360 golf shots.  This is not an easy challenge - most of us walk for 18 holes and a couple of us have walked 36 in a day; none of us would be stupid enough to walk 4 rounds in a day - until now!!

In anyone thinks this is easy let me know, I can always enter another team!

Thanks for your support, any amount you can sponsor us would be appreciated...

Lee, Andy, Albert, Steven
xxx