Hi guys, me (Daniel Elvis Booth) and a bunch of my mates from uni and home are gonna be walking The Palladian Way, starting off on the 9th July and ending whenever we eventually make it to the end - hopefully should be between a week and 10 days. Its a 120 mile architectural trail starting off in Buckingham, taking us down through the South West and finishes off in Bath. We’re going to be walking it for the charity Young Lives Vs Cancer who have massively looked after me in the last 6 months. The plan is to wild camp along the route, picking up supplies in towns along the way, cooking on wild fires and hoping that pubs along the way are nice and fill our vessels up for us too. 

So why are we doing this to ourselves?

Well bar the fact its just great craic, a bit unfortunately I got diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma on 3rd November 2020. When that one came through it was definitely a bit of a shock, bar a lump in my neck I’d noticed in early August I was otherwise clinically well. In hindsight I’d had a few early signs - had a shingles New Years Eve 2020, kidney infections around Easter that year and persistent night sweats for a good two years but still they’re not all definitive signs so I went on blissfully unaware. Admittedly when I first got the lump it was definitely a bit worrying,  with some dentistry knowledge I was aware that the left supraclavicular lymph node (one just above your collar bone) is known for being cancerous but still I didn’t think it would actually happen to me. After I didn’t get a viral infection it all started to get a little bit hairy, a bit rubbishly the first GP I went to told me I was fine too but at that point I was freaked so as soon as I went back to Sheffield in September I went straight to the doctors there. He was concerned, got me in at Haematology where the consultant there too was concerned, he told me my spleen was 1.5x bigger than it should be and referred me for some biopsies and scans culminating in that diagnosis in early November. To make it even more hairy me and my house all got Covid 2 days after my diagnosis, this delayed the start of my treatment by about 3 weeks which had my consultant rightfully a bit worried but luckily it ended up being inconsequential.

Now that could have meant being home for 6 months and deeping the news a fair bit but luckily I live with 9 of the soundest housemates anyone in the world could ever ask for, immediately they were all completely alright with us as a house totally self isolating for the entire 6 month duration of my treatment. This involved Tesco orders online all being wiped down on entry, having to get their own private room in the library and having a “sanitisation station” by the front door with 5L sanitiser pumps and wet wipes to disinfect on entry.

Due to being under 25 as well I was counted as a paediatric patient by the Charity Young Lives vs Cancer. They were amazing, they came with me to my initial appointment, helped me with any kind of admin I needed to do relating to the treatment, came out and visited my gaff every fortnight for bloods and just generally checked in to see how I was doing. They were also very lovely in offering to sort accommodation if needed, fake hair or a hat if wanted and just being a point of call for any casual questions rather than having to go to the consultant himself. Thats why we’re doing this walk to raise money for Young Lives Vs Cancer (previously ClicSergeant) so they can help anyone else in a situation anything like mine in the future.

Not to be all macho, and I'm fully aware that my experience is completely individual as are all experiences with this and other cancers, but for me the chemo itself wasnt even too bad. I think I tried to see it as just a 6 months uni holiday where I got to slam some darts and have a nice little 4th year recharge rather than getting bogged down in too much of the emotional rubbishy side of things because really that wouldn't have been any fun at all. In terms of the treatment itself it was straight chemo for 6 months, going in every 2 weeks, got plugged in for a few hours and then went home again. Luckily I had minimal side effects during the whole thing bar nausea and some pre-anxiety but luckily there’s drugs for everything so they were all managed once I asked for help with them. 

Ended up having my final scan 10th May and got the all clear on the 19th. Since then its funny I’ve probably felt worse than I did at any point during the chemo, not anything bad just the boys have made sure I’ve not had many days off in our last few weeks all together now we're all allowed back out. Thats why this walk should be so nice as really its one of our last big things we’ll do all together anyway and any money we can raise is just a massive bonus. 


Sorry for that big long story, if you’re still here please, please if you can give us a few pennies to sponsor us that would really mean a lot to all of us and I’m sure will mean a lot to any young person facing some far from ideal news too. 

Thank you for anything you can send our way,

Dan and the boys x

We've recently set up an Instagram page too called @palladsvscancer which we'll be updating with progress of our walk if anyone fancies giving it a follow too

Each year around 3,755 young people (0-24) are diagnosed with cancer in the UK. The money we raise will go directly towards getting young people who are diagnosed with cancer the support and care they deserve. Donating to our cause will have a positive influence not just for one person suffering to cope, but for thousands. 

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