Chances are, someone in your life has had cancer.
1 in 2 people will get cancer in their lifetime.
Those who know me will know that breast cancer research and awareness is a subject close to my heart. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was a teenager and last year, my eldest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. This walk is for them.
And this year, the walk is also for me.
In July, after an elective surgery for pain in my arm, it was found I have Synovial Sarcoma, a type of soft tissue cancer. This type of cancer is rare. For every one million people, one is diagnosed with synovial sarcoma per year in the US. It is just one type of soft tissue cancers. There are many types of soft tissue sarcoma, each developing differently from one another. Each year, about 3,300 people in the UK are diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma, less than 1% of all cancer diagnosis each year. The causes of soft tissue sarcomas are not known.
At this stage I have had two surgeries and radiation is still to be determined. Given that synovial sarcoma can grow for a while before it is found, I feel incredibly lucky it was caught early and there’s been no signs of the cancer spreading.
Of course, sometimes, the sarcoma may come back or spread to other parts of the body. The most common area for it to spread to is the lungs and develop into secondary lung cancer. This will be closely monitored for, quite frankly, the rest of my life.
So this October, while recovering from surgery and undergoing physio to regain my strength and movement, we’re lacing up our shoes and walking 100 miles for cancer. For breast cancer awareness and for the lesser known cancers like mine, synovial sarcoma.
Please help us raise money this month for Cancer Research UK