In 2023 I lost both my boobs to breast cancer – so what could be a better challenge than to walk up breast-shaped mountains in aid of the fantastic charity, Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support!

Hello, my name is Izzy Glaisher and I was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 26.

This is a sentimental challenge because for 20 years my family have looked out at the same mountain-scape whilst on the Isle of Mull. But 2 mountains in particular have gained the nickname ‘the breasts,’ for obvious reasons. During chemotherapy, I had a eureka moment and dreamt up this fundraiser!

My story is that I found a lump and things moved quite fast after that. In the same conversation as being diagnosed I was asked if I had thought about having children and was rushed into fertility treatment so I could freeze my eggs before chemo began. I needed a double mastectomy with full lymph clearance and chose to have reconstruction using my own tissue, an operation that took 14 hrs and quite a lot out of me! Then I had 5 months of chemotherapy, inc a couple of sepsis incidents, and 3 weeks of radiotherapy. Although active treatment has thankfully finished, I’m on a cocktail of preventative drugs and they mean that I’m living in medically-induced menopause. Which is really to say, the cancer journey goes on.

My life changed drastically. Pre-diagnosis I was living in London, working for a food redistribution charity, City Harvest. My summer had been full of festivals and sunrises, freedom and fun. Suddenly, I was advised not even to risk cycling as I needed to have the operation asap. I stopped working as appointments completely took over my life, moved out of my flat as I needed my parents to care for me.

It was when I moved home to Somerset that a friend of Mum’s texted and said, “there’s this local charity, they are incredible – you have to call Mary.”

Mary Kahn set up Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support (ALCS) following her own breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2017. They now support over 1,100 people in the local area and provide the holistic support that the NHS is just not able to provide, despite the incredible job they do medically. ALCS will support anyone affected by cancer and ALL the support they offer is free of charge.

Mary explained it as ‘head, heart, hands’ support and it’s through these three pillars that their clients can access diet and lifestyle support, exercise classes, creative activities, holistic therapies, counselling, community and more.

Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support provided a lifeline that I will be ever grateful for. Because I had to move home to my parents, I was miles away from all my friends and very isolated. My engagement with ALCS was a huge part of my week and gave me a lot of joy in a tough time.

For me, better understanding of the dis-ease, was empowerment. The more I learnt, the better able I was to help myself. To approach cancer holistically, in my case, is to welcome the life-saving modern medicine, but to look beyond it too. Towards all the million things we can actively choose to do to look after our bodies and minds, our whole selves. Through the free referrals ALCS provide, I was able to access and experiment with a whole range of different tools, try them on to see which fit. It’s like a resilience toolkit to carry forward with me and hopefully keep me well.

On the creative side, I got to do a woodwork course at the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy. We made really beautiful wooden stools, and it was so therapeutic, but also gave me a sense of achievement, which is very very needed during chemo.

I could also use their beach hut in Lyme Regis once a month, which became like a retreat day. I would set off with my basket and journal, and spent the day wrapped up, looking at the sea and often finding clarity, reflection and perseverance. One time 5 of my bestest friends came and we all squeezed in, basking in the spring sunshine, eating fish and chips and ice cream! Honestly a highlight of my year.

Donna was the first person I met in person from ALCS and I’m so grateful to her for her support and friendship. She started a Young Person’s group and I remember the first time I went I was terrified, but it actually ended up being something I’d look forward to. The experience I was having was universal to other people with breast cancer in some ways, but being in my 20’s also brought unique challenges, and this was a space to connect with other people of a similar age.

Through ALCS, I met with a dietician, received support for employment queries, attended a silver smithing workshop, was referred to a scar-tissue therapist with magic hands, took out countless books from the library, had auricular acupuncture, was signposted to other services, received counselling, attended talks and went to Monday drop-ins when I needed steadying. I still sometimes need to go down and see Mary, even though I finished treatment 18 months ago. And that’s ok, that’s expected. Cancer is earth-shattering and despite what they say, life does not ‘go back to normal.’ There is no such thing as normal anymore. It seems to be about nurturing your hesitant light, slowly emerging from whatever shape you needed to contort to during the storm, putting one foot in front of the other and turning your face up to feel the weak winter sun.

ALCS are filling a vital gap within the cancer-care system; a holistic, person-led, community-focused local charity, that understands and has time for the totally unique journey that cancer is to each of us. 1 in 2 of us are expected to get cancer now. Expected. And we NEED places like Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support, because it’s about more than survival, but how to live well during cancer, thrive beyond it and be empowered to be proactive in your own health.

Date for the walk: 4.04.2026

Location: Isle of Mull

Registered Charity in the UK: 1182035

http://www.axminsterandlymecancersupport.co.uk/