Charity Run

[Leo No.8]

Hi All (mods would it be possible to make this a sticky if you don't mind as it is for a good cause?)

 

I'm sure everyone will remember my famous 'lump meltdown' on YNWA! Despite my temporary insanity, in the end it turned out to be boring old salivary gland cancer with a good prognosis, and I was lucky enough to get through it with a couple of operations and no radiotherapy or chemotherapy. 3 years on I've recently had another clear scan so it is all looking very positive.

 

During my time going through this I connected with many brave people around the world with different forms of Head & Neck cancer, most of whom were going through a much tougher time than me. Radiotherapy is the most effective treatment for Head & Neck cancer, but is one of the toughest treatments to go through as it takes its toll on the healthy cells in the mouth area too, leaving people unable to eat solid food, scarring and often permanent side effects (imagine not being able to taste your food or drink at all for years, or perhaps ever for certain tastes).

 

Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool has an amazing team specialising in Head & Neck cancer. My consultant Professor Terry Jones is an absolute hero of mine, and has looked after me amazingly well, it was him who really got me back on track in every respect. He decided to do everything by surgery to avoid me having to deal with the radiotherapy side effects and left me with 100% function in my shoulder and neck area after my neck dissection (removal of all the glands on one side of my neck) which takes an incredible level of skill due to all the nerves that are based in there.

 

As well as being an incredibly skilled surgeon Terry has been part of a national team trying to drive more targeted radiotherapy, which will help lessen the side effects described above, and make people's journey through Head & Neck cancer more bearable. He is very much geared into not only beating Head & Neck cancer, but maintaining people's quality of life as well. Head & Neck kills over 300,000 people and effects over 500,000 people every year but is very much an underfunded area of research in comparison to other forms of cancer. For example there hasn't been any form of effective chemotherapy for Head & Neck cancer developed yet - chemotherapy is used but only used to 'soften' the cancer cells for radiotherapy, because the types on offer are ineffective on their own.

 

To raise money for Terry and the team in Aintree, myself and four other people who work for our company are doing the Brooks 'Hellrunner' through Delamere Forest on the 1st November. It is 12 miles through very tough conditions so we are certainly going to suffer for your donations! I have set up a page for donations here: My link

 

I really hope you good people at YNWA can help us by donating towards this very worthy cause, it would be very much appreciated if you can.

 

If not least to give something back in return for all the amusement I gave you all back in September / October 2011!

 

Hope you can help, and it really will be very much appreciated and go to a fantastic cause if you do...

 

Leo