I am running the London Landmarks Half Marathon to raise money for Macmillan Cancer. Venturing into the world of running has always been a scary idea and a personal challenge for some time, but I decided that now is the time to make that leap.

In 2023 my world came crashing down when my mum told me that she’d had the mole we’d spotted on her back biopsied, and it was indeed a melanoma. Not only that, but the melanoma had threaded through to her lymph nodes, with a marble sized lump then appearing in her breast. A biopsy confirmed that the mass in breast lymph nodes was also cancerous.

Doctors were positive they’d caught it early and she proceeded to have surgery in December 2023 to remove both the melanoma and 7 lymph nodes. In February 2024 it was confirmed that unfortunately the first surgery did not get it all. Cancerous cells had been left in her lymph nodes, which continued to grow and then threaded through to her liver.

After much discussion with her doctors it agreed that a 12-week course of intensive immunotherapy was the next step in her treatment. Whilst the immunotherapy was very intense, with a few added complications along the way, mum got the news in May 2024 that the treatment had been successful.

With this type of cancer mum will never officially be able to “ring the bell”, however this was the best news we could have received! Mum is now undergoing a reduced dosage of immunotherapy treatment to continue keeping the cancer at bay.

Despite complications along the way, (that coupled with my sister spending 9 weeks in hospital and needing emergency ileostomy surgery in the middle of mum’s treatment), we are so grateful for the support of the NHS and Macmillan Cancer. Whilst you hear the statistics that 1 in 2 people are likely to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, you never expect it to hit so close to home.

I’m running this race for you, mum. For you, and everyone impacted by cancer. Any support anyone can give would be massively appreciated & I will be forever grateful to you.

Lots of love,

Megan xxx

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