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On Sunday 7th of November I will be going alcohol free for 127 days, with the last day being Monday 14th March 2022. Here’s why: 

As some of you are aware, this year Charlie had a battle with cancer. On April 26th 2021 he had an appointment with a consultant after having pain and finding a lump on his testicle just 17 days earlier. It was at this consultation that he was informed that he had testicular cancer and that it had also spread to the lymph nodes in his abdomen so it was now stage 2 cancer. 

Fast forward to 8th May 2021 and he had to undergo an operation at Central Middlesex Hospital to remove his right testicle. Just three days after this he had a meeting at Mount Vernon hospital to discuss the next stage of treatment which was chemotherapy! 

24th May 2021 was his first day of chemotherapy treatment. He had B.E.P which is injected via a machine through a PICC line that he had inserted a few days before. The PICC line ran 43cm  from his right bicep towards his heart through a vein. 

His chemotherapy consisted of staying in the hospital from Monday to Friday, and then coming in the following 2 Mondays  also but for the day rather than staying in. This was repeated 3 times so 9 weeks in total. Over these 9 weeks he would go onto have 51 bags of chemotherapy in total! He also had to have daily blood thinner injections, and after each 5 day stint in hospital he had to have 3 days of white blood cell injections. 

He battled through everything - from losing a stone in weight in just the first week, to then losing his hair by the second week. 

19th July 2021 was the last day of his chemotherapy and he was able to get his PICC line removed (which sounds incredibly painful!). 

On 19th August 2021 he returned to hospital to have CT scans and blood tests to see how he had got on. The consultant said to expect to see little or no difference between his last CT scan and this one. 

However on 31st August 2021 he went to see his consultant to talk through the results and to everyone’s surprise she informed him and his family that he was now cancer free! 

He is still battling with the after effects of the chemotherapy and has been told that it could take a year for him to be back to his normal self - but he wants to beat those odds! He’s already looking more and more like himself and is already back to having a stronger beard game than I could hope for 😂. 

I was going to do a dry month anyway as I have done before but after all that’s happened to Charlie this year I decided to step it up. It was 127 days between Charlie getting diagnosed and being told he was cancer free. I have decided to go sober for 127 days for charity, and after speaking to him about which charity he would prefer, he decided on the money going to Mount Vernon Cancer Centre! They took such great care of him during the toughest time of his and his families lives and deserve anything we can give them. 

Cancer affects so many people and families whether it be directly or indirectly. Cancer centres like this not only provide care for cancer patients but also carry out key research in the ongoing battle against cancer. 

If you could donate absolutely anything it would be a great help to an even greater cause! Thank you! 💙

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