Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As most people know the last few months have been a very difficult time for us but this charity has helped make it a bit easier. Molly first found a lump in her neck 3 years ago aged 10. We were sent for an ultrasound by the GP and a needle sample was taken. We were reassured that this was a benign thyroid nodule. She then had bloods which showed she was thyrotoxic and then for over 2 years she had frequent blood tests and took 7 tablets a day. Obviously a global pandemic did not help the follow up and at times it felt like a battle to get the opinions I felt she needed.

Eventually we were referred for a surgical opinion which resulted in more scans and more opinions from different hospitals. Ultimately she underwent surgery to remove the half of her thyroid gland with the nodule, with the hope that this would leave her with normal function from the other half and no more medication. She had her first surgery in November 2021and she coped so well. A month later we returned to see the surgeon we thought for a scar check and to be discharged. This is when we were told that the nodule was actually a follicular thyroid cancer. This is extremely rare in children and was a complete shock to all who were treating her particularly as it was an active nodule making her thyrotoxic. Molly was then readmitted the following week to remove the rest of her thyroid gland to enable her to then have radioactive iodine treatment after she had recovered from the surgery. 

The radioactive iodine treatment is done on an adult cancer ward and she was basically locked in a room alone for 4 days (see photos) I was allowed just inside the room for a limited time but not allowed to touch her. I stayed in the hospital but because of covid rules nobody else could see us. She also had to live apart from Stanley and Martha until her radiation levels dropped. This is when the Butterfly trust got involved. As everything you take into the room becomes radioactive you cannot take much from home. The charity delivered all sorts of lovely things to make her stay more pleasant. Not only that but Kate from the charity was in regular contact with me during the treatment to give me some much needed emotional support. 

Being told your child has cancer is as awful as it sounds and for me after working as a NHS doctor for 20 years this has given me an insight into how it is to be a patient and a relative and how you begin to over analyse every word the medical staff say.  This is where the charities involved make such a difference, it is so valuable to have someone who has been through the same process to let you talk it through. 

We feel very grateful for the support and lucky that thyroid cancer has an effective treatment. Molly is still under regular follow up and her post treatment scan did show some lung nodules so there is ongoing anxiety. She has had more scans and bloods and this will be monitored with more anxiety provoking scans to come, but so far we are hoping these are incidental. Now it's learning to live with this in the background but also to remember to be very grateful that we are not facing a worse diagnosis. 

Most people know I love to run to help my stress, although this is a hobby I came to in later life it has helped me through some really tough times. When we first heard the news I couldn't run as I felt so anxious. With time I forced myself to lace up my trainers and alongside my wonderful friends and family running has made the last few months more manageable. I entered Edinburgh marathon pre-pandemic and it seems it will finally happen this year. I also entered what I thought would be a "training" trail marathon the Hardmoors Wainstones marathon. It turns out this will be much harder with huge hills and navigation needed and it's also 28 miles. As they are only 3 weeks apart It remains to be seen if I can recover from this in time to do Edinburgh!  I find it difficult to ask for money to do something I obviously enjoy but hopefully if you've made it to the end of this long story you might feel able to give a little to a lovely charity. 

I think Molly and I will plan to do something later in the year to raise funds for other children's cancer charities as there's nothing like a few trips to the kids oncology day unit to make you feel grateful. As Molly has said throughout "I am so lucky compared to them" and she is absolutely right, 

Thank You