10th anniversary day-long trek

My first experience of cancer was when I was asked to help a young cancer patient improve his balance after brain surgery. I decided to train in oncology massage so I could understand more about this scary multi-faceted disease. We had many sessions together until Covid happened. He sadly died during that time.

Another regular client I had been helping died of lung cancer. In her case, nobody suspected she had cancer.

Then a very good friend of mine who had a mammogram at the same time as me, discovered she had breast cancer. She made a full recovery.

My dad had skin cancer and throat cancer.

We all know someone who has been affected by cancer. I often think it could be me when I see patients for massage therapy at My Cancer My Choices. It feels good to be able to take some of the stress away for an hour, to see grateful smiles and beaming faces, and make a difference.

I love walking long distances, with a 50k+ walk to mark my 50th birthday a few years ago. It’s the first time I raise money for MCMC. This trek seemed like the sort of event that fit in with my aspirations. To be honest, when I heard of it, I first thought that doing it in one day was nuts. Two days, yes. One day? That’s crazy. Then the idea grew on me, and my husband and I have been training, doing 11 miles of a 27-mile training walk barefoot.

I will be walking from home to Charvil, then Reading and finally Newbury. I expect it will be 30 miles and will take all day!

Thank you very much for your support. I see the good that we bring to our local men and women, making their cancer journey a little less tough and a little less lonely. It’s worth the pain we will surely feel in our bodies by the end of the walking day!