As many of you will know my husband Neil was diagnosed with a Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST) in October last year. This is one of the rarer forms of stomach cancer and as with many gastric and oesphageal tumours presented insidiously. Neil's treatment hasn't gone completely smoothly and it's safe to say there have been a fair few ups and downs over the last few months however thanks to the Northern Oesophago Gastric Unit (Ward 36, Royal Victorial Infirmary) and the Northern Centre for Cancer Care (Freeman Hospital) Neil is well on the road to recovery. The Oncology, Surgical and, of course, the Perioperative teams have all been fantastic.

Running has been a great stress reliever for me during this time helping to keep me sane! I am therefore going to run the Great North Run and hopefully raise some funds for the Northern Oesophago Gastric Fund at the same time. This charity supports the regional campaign - 'Oesophagoose' - to raise awareness of the early symptoms associated with oesophageal and gastric cancers. In addition money raised helps to fund research into these cancers as well as initiatives that improve patients experiences.

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