UPDATE:

I want to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated and everyone who came along to the event, despite the last minute change of venue it was a roaring success!

I’ll add some photos from the event so make sure to check them out in the gallery above!!

For anyone who hasn’t seen this page yet, the story is below!

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Hello! My name is Kate, and I’m shaving my head in honour of my 3 wonderful cousins, who have all been impacted by this cruel disease. I will be fundraising for cancer charities and donating my hair to the Little Princess Trust. 

As many of you may already know, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now.

I’d been growing my hair for my wedding (after cutting it short in 2016) and knew that I eventually wanted to cut it to donate it and maybe even raise a little bit of money alongside. My reasoning stemmed from my cousin Rebecca’s cancer diagnosis a few years earlier. Her diagnosis had rocked me. She wasn’t much older than I am now, and a new Mum. 

Then in late 2017 another of my cousins, Josh was also about to start his battle with cancer. At this point I started toying with the idea of shaving my head in order to raise as much money as possible, because I felt like I needed to do something!! But my hair was nowhere near long enough yet. 

In 2019, the unthinkable happened- Rebecca’s cancer had returned. Now I was sure, I fully committed to the idea of shaving my head- but still needed a few more inches! 

Flash forward to April of this year and it’s been growing nicely, now past the bottom of my back. The plan is still the plan, it was just a case of when.

Then came the news that Rebecca’s sister, Sarah has been diagnosed with cancer.

That’s three. Three of my cousins. Three people that I love have had to face this horrible thing and the time is absolutely now. 

So here we are. If you’ve read this far, thank you. And if you have a few moments to please keep reading, I wanted for each of them to tell you a bit about their fight in their own words. Because this is for them.

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Rebecca’s story:

Five months into being a mother I discovered a lump in my left breast and became concerned. I went to the doctors who felt it was possibly a blocked milk duct as I was breast feeding my daughter Tavia. 

After another week I felt it was still sore and raised so decided to ask for a referral. After several scans and a biopsy, the worst was confirmed- I had stage 3 breast cancer. Treatment started immediately with chemo to shrink the tumour and reconstruction of my breasts with implants, followed by radiotherapy to ensure nothing no tiny cancer cells were missed. 

This was very scary and stressful with a small child, two young step daughters and the overwhelming feeling that I couldn’t work or be able to provide for the family.

Once I began chemo the daunting prospect hits you that you will be tired and afraid, losing the hair will be another hurdle. For me the hair falling out was a sign to say the chemotherapy was working. I decided my mindset was that hair will grow back and when it does it will be new and luscious and cancer free! So I shaved my head when I could no longer wash and brush it without loosing vast amounts and it actually was quite liberating. I felt in control. Me and Tavia (7months) now looked the same!!

During my treatment, despite the concern of my family and friends that my immunity would be compromised by being around lots of people teaching in a school, I recall wanting to work when I could. I felt as if this gave me purpose. I couldn’t just sit around, I needed to see my students and be included in “normal” life. 

I had to be motivated and have a reason for being put through this. I wanted structure to my day despite the tiredness. It gave me a reason to keep striving and tackling the emotions head on. 

But it wasn’t over once I was in remission.

When I’d started to get back on track, I discovered a small lump in my left underarm. This was also to become the same cancer so likely to be something small left behind. Devastated is an understatement. Four years after the first time, it was a case of digging in and emotionally coping with the ordeal of juggling family, work and cancer treatment all over again.

I had six rounds of chemo each time, with a combination of drugs and regular CT scans, eventually having my implants removed to avoid any further complications.

I kept busy during the first cycle with fundraising and trying to educate the students in my school. Friends and Family helped in any and every way they could, and I’m forever grateful for the support network they provided.

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Josh’s story:

In 2017 I was diagnosed with stage 2 (borderline stage 3) testicular cancer, it had already spread to the lymph nodes around my kidneys, and my kidney was the next stop. At the time it felt like the end of the world. It's not something that you think you'll ever have to deal with in your life, especially not at 25 years old. But I had people I knew, like my cousin Rebecca, that had cancer young and fought it off, so I was hopeful that all would be well.

I had surgery to remove the tumour and chemotherapy started quickly after that as my tumour marker levels had gone up and not down after the surgery and the tumour was a combination of two variations, both things were extremely rare.

Because of this the treatment was intense, I'd have a full week in hospital, with chemotherapy every day for 10-12 hours, then once a week for the next two weeks before starting the cycle again. This went on for just over 3 months. I felt extremely sick and tired all of the time and any bad smell or taste made me nearly sick, my treatment started just before Christmas, so it wasn't the best Christmas that year.

My hair started to fall out just after new year, which I didn't think would bother me, but it was very unpleasant waking up to less and less hair each day, so I shaved it all off.

Throughout my treatment I had several complications, mainly illnesses due to my weakened immune system, meaning treatment had to be stopped until I'd recovered. The worst side effect I had was Pericarditis (inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart) the symptoms were extremely similar to a heart attack- so it was very painful and scary!

I am just so fortunate that due to research and investment into treatments I was able to fight it off, like so many people do now.

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Sarah’s story:

Back in Nov 2021 I developed a cough, more annoying than persistent, not enough to think it was anything too serious. In December I took part in a charity boxing match to raise money for cancer research- ironic, I know! After the fight I coughed for a good few hours but the next day nothing... and it went on like that for months.

In Feb 2022 the cough was more frequent and now quite painful so after being pestered by my mum and sister I finally took myself off to the doctors for some antibiotics. The nurse I saw said my chest sounded clear but maybe I should have a chest X-ray before they prescribed anything. The next week was the X-ray, and by the time I’d got home the hospital had called to say I needed a CT-scan as the X-ray had shown a shadow on my lung.

CT-scan the following week showed the mass on my Thymus gland. I had no idea what a Thymus gland was at that stage, and it seems from my conversations neither did anyone else.

A biopsy confirmed the rarer, more aggressive form of Thymus cancer- Thymic Carcinoma (stage 4) - and it had spread to my lung lining and a vertebra.

My world came crashing down around me. Being diagnosed with cancer is hard enough but having a rare cancer (less the 350 a year are diagnosed) is a very scary and lonely place. 

Chemo started straight away and so far the cancer seems to be responding well.

My journey is far from over but I’m passionate about raising awareness through the work that ThymicUK are doing.

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A little more info:

I’ll be fundraising for ThymicUK, a small charity that works to provide information and support for those affected by Thymic Cancers in the UK.

Thymic Cancers, such as Thymoma or Thymic Carcinoma, are very rare malignant neoplasms originating from the thymus, a small organ in the upper part of the chest that produces T-cells, which are an important part of the immune system.

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THE SHAVE:

I will be having my hair cut and shaved at a live event & Family Fun Day at

THE PLOUGH in LANGFORD

Saturday 9th July from 2pm.

Everyone is welcome!!

We will also have collection buckets on the day from which all contributions received will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support. 

Please donate if you are able,

Please share if you aren’t,

Thank you so much in advance. It means the world. Thank you x