I am running the London Marathon for a
Charity that is very close to my heart

In 2010 I was diagnosed with Testicular cancer. I was 22 and my life was good I had an awesome girlfriend, great friends, loving family as a young man this was devastating news for all of us. I felt like a man cut down in his prime, I took it on the chin and carried on. My girlfriend has since told me that my attitude to the whole ordeal was an inspiration to everyone as I always found the funny/bright side on every situation so much so it helped us all get through it. If there is any advice to give it’s always stay positive no matter what.

 After my initial diagnosis I was told I would lose one of my testicles which at this point had swollen to the size of a large apple and I was told the cancer could potentially spread. After my operation I was sent to Mount Vernon hospital where I met Professor Rustin and his team who gave me the unfortunate news that the cancer had spread to 3 lymph nodes behind my stomach.

I took the news in my stride and was told that I had a 95% chance of surviving, although no one knows what brings on testicular cancer, it can however be fought well with chemotherapy. I was told it would take 3 bouts of chemo to stop the cancer in its tracks and hopefully kill it off. All the Professor asked of me was once I was better I would one day run the London marathon for his charity. I of course said yes to his request! I had the 3 bouts of chemo with weekly top-ups of one of the chemo drugs between the stays in hospital. I was very sick for 4 months. The thing about chemotherapy is when you are in the hospital having the drugs intravenously injected into you, you feel fine, fit and healthy, however its once you leave the hospital and go home that’s when you start to really feel sick, you can’t get out of bed, completely
fatigued, can’t sleep yet can’t wake up either it’s like a living nightmare for about a week. Well that was the 1st bout. I was blessed to have such a wonderful girlfriend, great friends and family to take care of me and made sure I was ok.

Between the 1st and 2nd bouts of chemo I shaved all my hair off, Instead of doing it on my own and feeling sorry for myself, I made a night of it, with my friends shaving my head. (I had a lot of hair before I was ill!) It was better than watching it all fall out. My friends came over and we cut my hair and beard then took a razor and shaving foam to it until there was nothing left. However it’s not only your head hair that falls out, so I watched other hair fall out... One piece of advice to anyone that ever has to go through this, do not touch your eyebrows or eyelashes. :)

The 2nd chemo session was a lot better I only felt slightly sick and fatigued after and was well enough to attend a close friend’s wedding.

The 3rd one was pure fear going in knowing
what was going to happen for the next 3 days in hospital and then the week after and not knowing now if I would be horribly sick or ok. After all of the chemo I had a PET (Positron Emission Tomography ) scan;  basically you are injected with a radioactive isotope called a tracer and will flare up "hot" if the cancer is still live in the body. I was told that the chemotherapy had killed off 2 of the 3 Lymph nodes and they were 80%-90% sure that the 3rd one was ok but was "hot" due to some residual tissue, I was given the leave it and hope it doesn’t come
back or have an operation to remove the remaining tissue. Although 90% is high it’s not 100% I opted for the surgery which was pretty invasive, luckily I had a very skilled surgeon looking after me as he and his team had to go behind my stomach and cut out the lymph nodes out. I was in the Royal Marsden for a week after and was kept high on painkillers. As you can imagine having your stomach operated on is going to hurt a bit.

I was given the all clear in October 2010. It will forever been one of the best feeling I have felt in my life and I wish this feeling upon anyone going through cancer.

Throughout the ordeal I had great support from my friends and family.  Although it was a real trying time in my life I feel that I have become a lot stronger and appreciative of everything I have, "what doesn't kill you..." Since I was given the all clear I quit my old jobs, studied and secured my dream job in IT, moved to Zurich for 4 years with my girlfriend who was my rock during the whole ordeal and I proposed to her in 2013. She said yes and we are due to be married this year!

I have now been all clear for 5 years 3 Months…

Thank you to Professor Rustin and his team,
I can truly say I would not be where I am today without them.

Please give whatever you can to this fantastic charity.