I am raising money for Thrombosis UK by setting myself a number of challenges (see team page for more details and updates).

Between Christmas and New Year’s 2017 I went for a “routine” colonoscopy having first started seeing a gastroenterologist about an anomaly in my liver function test. The colonoscopy showed a tumour in my rectum. By 10th Jan 2018 I was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancel with secondary metastasis in my liver, 3 lymph nodes and potential further secondaries in my lungs. I have always been a numbers person and the latest numbers I can find tell me the 5 year survival rate for Stage IV bowel cancer is 11%. I intend to be in that 11%.

In the run up to the diagnosis I have to say 2017 was the best year of my life. My daughter Emilia entered our lives on 22 Dec 2016 and I can honestly say she has been the most amazing gift, every day spent with her since she arrived has been incredible. I started a new job, which I love, working for a great company, with great people. I have the most amazing wife I could ever have asked for and a truly awesome bunch of friends. I was blessed and I knew it.
The news was both shocking and devastating. Before this diagnosis I would have described myself as fit and healthy (I proudly completed my 50th Parkrun on 23 Dec 17) , and had little to no symptoms that had caused me worry. I would never have thought I could have a cancer as advanced as it is (the doctor told me there was unlikely anything to be worried about from the initial liver test). To say the news came out the blue would be an understatement.

I am still trying to adjust to what it means to be living with cancer, especially a cancer that is as advanced as mine and what that means for my long-term prospects. I am on an aggressive chemo treatment (FOLFOXIRI and Avastin) and remain hopeful this can help stop any further spread and hopefully allow me to think about other treatment options and potentially a cure.
What I have realised through the recurring cycles of chemo and the inevitable bad days, is that there are always positives to find and reasons to be grateful. I don’t want to be defined by the illness that is changing my life and will inevitably end up shortening it. I am still doing my best to keep active through walking, running and cycling when I can and so I figured this would be the right time to do something positive and help give something back. In addition, setting myself goals and targets allows me to focus on longer term objectives and helps combat the fatigue from the chemo. Most importantly if this does end badly I want my daughter to know that I didn’t give up without a fight. I have set myself the lofty goal of raising £2000 for each of the three charities on the assumption that I will be around a long time to achieve this goal.

Thrombosis UK: My older sister Natalie passed away on 31/12/2000 from a deep vein thrombosis. I miss her dearly and she left a huge hole in our lives. There is still not enough awareness around VTE which kills someone every 6 seconds globally. My younger sister Abby has done a great job raising money for this charity in the past and now it’s my turn.