Believe it or not, generally speaking I don’t usually like to make a fuss. I tend to just get on with things and keep quite a low profile. And, back in 2018, when I was first diagnosed with bowel cancer I didn’t really make a big song and dance about it.
I didn’t want to worry the kids, or my folks, so I made the decision to keep it under wraps until the time came that I couldn’t avoid it anymore.
So, I had a colonoscopy, multiple blood tests, two iron infusions and then surgery to remove the tumour and a third of my bowel. At this point, all the family knew was that I’d had a polyp removed. I waited a few weeks for the results to come back from the tests on the tumour and was told that I would need to undergo chemotherapy as a further precaution. It was at that point that I felt that I needed to tell everybody.
Early in 2021 I had a CT scan as part of my annual screening and they discovered that some lymph nodes in my bowel were enlarged. I was told that there could be a number of reasons for this but tests would be arranged to get to the bottom of it. Over the course of the next six months I had a colonoscopy, an enteroscopy, a PET-CT, an iron infusion, a surgical biopsy and another CT scan.
The results up until the biopsy were inconclusive, but the surgery confirmed that the cancer had returned in my troublesome, enlarged lymph nodes. It was decided that immunotherapy was the best way to deal with it, chemotherapy wouldn’t be effective and this fairly new treatment was getting good results in helping the body fight off the dodgy cells.
When I started my treatment, the fundraising began.
The idea was initially to raise a little bit of money to put together some Christmas dinner packages that could be delivered to our local food bank. I love Christmastime and it’s definitely the season for spreading some extra love, joy and festive spirit. That year we were blown away by the support that we received from friends, family, colleagues, local business and random strangers and were able to do so much more than we could’ve imagined.
That support has continued as we move towards our fourth Christmas and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who has contributed. The true magic of the festive season working like a Hallmark Christmas film. Which, incidentally, was where I came up with the name of our endeavour. I thought it sounded like a Christmas movie, especially if you add “…at Reindeer Lodge”.
Our target for 2024 was to raise £1700 in donations to take us over the £10,000 since we started our fundraising. Thanks to your generosity we managed reach that target and more.
The support that we have had over the years has been fantastic, with donations coming from friends, family and strangers, local businesses and indie pop/rock legends The Hoosiers. This year we will be celebrating our fifth Christmas, a milestone for a number of reasons, and we will be hugely grateful if you could stick with us in 2025.
There will be raffles, competitions, and hopefully some special events to announce throughout the year, so please keep an eye on the website and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for all of the latest news.