Millie...

Despite all the hospital trips, nurse visits, general anaesthetics, scans, surgeries, chemotherapy and Retinoic acid, Millie has coped brilliantly.  She still manages to go to nursery, swim, see her friends and play with her little Sister in-between treatment.  She sat and played happily on her hospital bed for up to 8 hours a day whilst she had chemotherapy administered and bounced back from major surgery in record time.  She is an absolute inspiration to us and I am very proud of her.  If Millie hadn't dealt with it so well, I would of ended up a total wreck; she makes me want to keep going and enjoy every single day I have with her.

Millie's cancer was diagnosed when she was 10 months old (Sept 2012).  Neuroblastoma is an aggressive children's cancer and is a solid tumour of the nervous system.  Her tumour is/was alongside her spinal cord above her right lung.  She had surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital to remove the tumour when she was 11 months.  The surgery seemed to be a success and analysis of the tumour suggested it was not likely to come back.  But it did and in August 2013 she was re-diagnosed.  Millie had surgery to have a central line fitted and then 6 rounds of intensive chemotherapy.  The chemo wiped out her immune system so every month we were in our local hospital for up to a week whilst she fought an infection.  She had to have blood tests twice a week, antibiotics, was sick, constipated, lost her hair, went off most food and generally felt rotten.  After 4 rounds of chemo she had surgery again to remove the tumour (Feb 2014), followed by a further 2 rounds of chemo.  Unfortunately the cancer had spread into a lymph node nearby so that was also removed and there is a chance it fired the cancer somewhere else in her body.  Millie finished a 6 month course of Cis-Retinoic Acid in November which has hopefully turned off any remaining cancer cells.  She had a number of tests in December, including 2 different types of scan under general anaesthetic.  The results were positive in that they couldn't see any cancer, but the real test will be whether they can see anything by the end of 2015.  It was the best Christmas present we could have wished for and now we just have to pray this nasty aggressive cancer doesn't grow back again. For the foreseeable future, Millie will see her consultant every 3 months which includes an x-ray and ultrasound, and have an MRI scan every 6 months.

Me...

I am not a natural runner but have enjoyed the odd bit of running in the past.  I have always wanted to run the London marathon, just once; a personal challenge I've had for years.  10k is the most I have ever ran and that was 8 years ago!

I am the heaviest I have ever been (post baby weight and a lot of comfort eating!) and the most unfit I have ever been (lack of time and motivation); it's fair to say this is going to be one massive challenge but such an achievement if I can do it.  I want to show Millie that her Mummy is brave and strong, just like she is.  I love her so much and pray she is not going to be one of the children who don't survive this nasty cancer.

Children with Cancer UK is a charity very close to my heart.  The charity funds vital research into the treatment and hopefully (one day) cure of children's cancers.  They also provide much needed support to families who have a child with cancer.  I never appreciated how important these two areas were until recently (Millie's tumour would have been unlikely to return if they knew then what they know now).  This research saves lives, lives of innocent children who don't deserve pain, suffering and the chance of a long happy healthy life.

So please sponsor me, donate whatever you can (it really does all help) and write me a message to keep me going...I'm going to need it!! 

Thank you in advance, Vanessa xx